These are authentic forest mushrooms. They grow in the monsoon season on the termite house in which the snake stays (that's what the folklore says). Only the people staying in those forest's have the knowledge of how to shun away the snake and pick those edible mushrooms. Only they know which mushrooms are edible and which are poisonous.
These forest mushrooms grow in the forest areas on the Goa-Karnataka border (and off course in many other forest's). But the one's that we eat arrive in Goa from the Goa-Karnataka border.
This time luckily my hubby visited Goa on a short trip in the same season and to my surprise got back two big packets of these mushrooms. These mushrooms get spoiled very easily. So as soon as they are plucked from the termite house, they are tightly wrapped into very large leaves which are found only in the forests. People say that mushrooms which are still buds are fresh. Once they open up they are not considered fresh.
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| Mushrooms tigthly packed in big leaves once they are plucked |
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| Fresh mushroom buds |
Finally you need to drain the water by tightly holding the mushrooms in the fists.
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| Soak them in water for cleaning |
Cutting these mushrooms is very easy. You don't have to use a knife at all. They can be easily torn into desired pieces using hands. If a knife is used to cut them, the mushroom get cut into very small powder like pieces and then it's difficult to get the real taste when cooked.
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| Cleaned mushrooms |
These mushrooms can be used in cooking just like the normal button mushrooms which we get in the grocery stores. A delicious mushroom rawa fry can be made or else Kadai Mushroom.
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| Delicious Rawa Fried Mushrooms |
