Thunder Mushrooms in Spicy Gravy (GudGud Alambe Phannaupkari)

"Gud Gud Alambe" as it is called in Konkani, is nothing but wild mushrooms that grow in the hills near the coastal region of Mangalore only during the start of the monsoon when there is lot of thunder and lightning.
Like many other Indian communties, the Konkani community is also famous for hunting all kinds of wild but edible fruits, leaves, barks, stems, flowers and roots and cooking mouth watering delicacies out of them.
The "GudGud Alambe Phannaupkari" is one such dish.
"Gud Gud" means thunder in Konkani, hence this mushroom can be called as "Thunder mushrooms".
They are little different from the regular mushrooms in that they do not have any stem and they are totally round in shape.

There is also another difference, these mushrooms have a outer covering which needs to be removed to actually get the edible soft and white mushroom inside.

Also some peeled mushrooms maybe blackish in color, those need to be discarded before cooking.
The peeling takes some time like 1 kg could take about 30-45 minutes to peel, but the peeled mushrooms take just about 5-7 minutes to cook, but believe me the mushrooms are so tasty, that the long peeling time would be forgotten once you have eaten the curry.
This curry is best served with Poori but can also be eaten as a side-dish with rice and dal.
There are 2 variations, in the spicy gravy category.
One would be to make the Tomato Phannaupkari or All purpose Tomato curry already published in my blog and boil it for 5-7 minutes after adding these white peeled mushrooms.
The other variation is fully Chilly based which is given below.



Serves 3
Ingredients :
GudGud Alambe or Thunder mushrooms - 1 kg - cleaned and peeled.
Onion - 2
Red Chilli powder - 2 tbsp or as per taste or Red Chilly paste 2 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Optional :
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Method :
Finely chop the onions and keep aside.
Take a deep frying pan, put it on medium heat, add oil, and when its slightly hot add the chopped onions and fry till golden light brown. 
Then add red chilli powder or paste, fry lightly ( do not allow to burn ), ideal time should be less than 3-5 secs.
Immediately add the tamarind paste, salt and the mushrooms and bring to boil for about 5 mins.
The Alambe Phannaupkari is ready.
Serve it with Poori any kind of bread or rice.
Optionally you could garnish with coriander leaves.