Anabe Saaru

What is anabe saaru?

Anabe saaru is a mushroom curry with a thin to medium gravy, made with a ground paste of roasted coconut, black pepper, coriander seeds and red chillies, finished in coconut oil. Anabe (ಅಣಬೆ) is the Kannada word for mushroom and saaru is any thin curry you pour over rice. So anabe saaru simply means mushroom saaru. In Malenadu it belongs to the monsoon.

For hill families anabe saaru is a seasonal treat. When wild anabe come up after the early rains, someone in the house who knows them brings home a small basket and that evening there is a pot of anabe saaru with rotti or rice. Outside the short season, many families make the same curry with market mushrooms.

The masala is close to the one in Malenadu koli saaru, but lighter, because mushrooms cook in minutes. Anabe saaru is a wild mushroom curry in spirit, but this recipe is written so you can make it safely with mushrooms you buy.

Anabe, aalambe and other local names

Mushrooms go by a few names in Malenadu. Anabe is the common Kannada word, while aalambe or allambe is heard in many villages, so anabe saaru may also be called aalambe saaru. People also name mushrooms by where they grow.

• Hutta anabe: mushrooms that come up on or around termite mounds (hutta). These are among the most prized.
• Mara anabe: mushrooms that grow on trees, logs and stumps (mara means tree).
• Beru anabe: mushrooms that come up straight from the soil.

These names describe where a mushroom grows, not which species it is. A survey of mushrooms in the Shivamogga region recorded local names such as huthada anabe and mara anabe and found that the same name was given to more than one kind of fungus. That is why a name alone never tells you a mushroom is safe.

Is it safe to eat wild mushrooms in anabe saaru?

Wild mushrooms are safe only when a local person who has picked that exact kind for years looks at them and confirms it. Some mushrooms that grow in the same forests and gardens are poisonous and a few are deadly. To an untrained eye, many poisonous kinds look very like the edible ones.

Deccan Herald has reported deaths in Dakshina Kannada after family members ate mushrooms brought home from the forest. If you are a visitor or a city cook or you are simply not sure, make your anabe saaru with market mushrooms. The curry still tastes of the hills, because the flavour comes from the masala.

Safety rules before you cook a wild mushroom curry

1. Never pick or eat a wild mushroom unless a local person who knows that kind well confirms it, in person, on the day it is picked.
2. Do not trust folk tests. A silver coin turning dark, insects eating a mushroom or a cap that peels easily tells you nothing about safety.
3. Cooking, boiling or adding tamarind does not make a poisonous mushroom safe.
4. Cook only fresh, firm, young mushrooms. Throw away any that are soft, slimy, wormy or smell bad.
5. Never mix an unknown mushroom into a basket of known ones. If one piece looks different, leave it out.
6. If anyone feels sick after eating wild mushrooms (vomiting, stomach pain, loose motions or dizziness), go to a hospital at once and carry a leftover piece or a photo. Some poisonings show signs only many hours later, so do not wait.
7. Respect the forest. Do not enter reserved forests without Forest Department permission, never pick inside a devara kadu or sacred grove and always leave plenty behind.

Monsoon mushrooms in Karnataka: when do anabe come up?

Anabe come up in the monsoon, usually within days of the first heavy rains in June and keep appearing in flushes until about September. A Deccan Herald feature on wild mushrooms in Karnataka notes that they appear after the first rains and can disappear within a day. That is why the people who know them go looking early in the morning.

Hutta anabe grow in partnership with termites, which farm the fungus inside their nest. After rain the mushrooms push up through the soil on long stems. Nobody has managed to grow these on a farm, so they remain a true wild food of the season. The Shivamogga survey above recorded them in the forests near Agumbe.

Other monsoon mushrooms Karnataka villagers know come up on fallen logs, in areca and coffee gardens, on bamboo and in grass at the forest edge. The wetter the hills, the more kinds appear. Read about the rains that make this happen on our Malenadu monsoon page.

Picking every mushroom or breaking open a termite mound harms next year’s flush. Families who have gathered anabe for generations take a few and never dig into the mound.

What goes into a Malenadu mushroom curry?

A Malenadu mushroom curry is built on a paste of dry roasted coconut and whole spices, ground smooth and simmered briefly with the mushrooms. Each ingredient has a clear job.

Ingredient	What it does
Grated coconut, roasted golden	body, colour and a nutty sweetness
Coriander seeds	the base flavour of the gravy
Black pepper	a warm heat that suits a wet evening
Dry red chillies (byadagi)	colour and gentle heat
Cumin and poppy seeds	earthiness and a little thickness
Onion and garlic	sweetness and depth (left out in some homes)
Tamarind or kokum	a little sourness to lift the gravy
Coconut oil and curry leaves	the aroma of a Malenadu kitchen

In the hills, pepper vines climb the shade trees in areca and coffee gardens, so pepper is used generously. Freshly roasted and ground with the coconut, it gives anabe saaru a warm heat that builds slowly. Use whole black pepper and roast it lightly with the coriander seeds, because pre-ground pepper tastes flat.

Which market mushrooms work best?

Oyster mushrooms come closest to many wild anabe. They are soft and a little chewy and they soak up the gravy of anabe saaru well. Tear them into strips along the gills.

Button mushrooms are easy to find and firmer, with a mild taste. Halve or quarter them so they stay juicy. A mix of oyster and button mushrooms gives the best texture. For anabe saaru for four people, 400 g is enough.

Anabe recipe: how to make anabe saaru at home

This anabe recipe serves four and takes about 45 minutes, most of it spent roasting the masala. It is written for market mushrooms. If you are using wild anabe, follow the safety rules above first.

When it is ready, anabe saaru should be a light brown gravy that pours easily, with soft but not mushy mushrooms. It should smell of coconut oil, pepper and roasted coconut. Wild anabe that a local person has confirmed are cooked the same way, but give them the full simmer so they are cooked through.

How do you clean mushrooms for anabe saaru?

Clean mushrooms quickly and never soak them, because they drink water and turn soggy. The method depends on where they came from.

• Market mushrooms: rinse them for a few seconds in a colander or wipe them with a damp cloth, then pat dry. Trim the dry end of the stem.
• Hutta anabe: their long stems carry soil from the mound. Scrape the stem with a knife, cut off the earthy root end and rinse two or three times in a basin, lifting the mushrooms out so the grit stays behind.
• Mara anabe: brush off bark and leaves and cut away any hard or woody part of the stem.

Check every piece as you clean it and throw away anything with worm holes, dark wet patches or a sour smell. Wild anabe spoil fast, so cook anabe saaru the day they are picked. Market mushrooms keep in a paper bag in the fridge for two or three days.

Mushroom saaru variations from Malenadu homes

Mushroom saaru changes from house to house, but the roasted coconut base stays. These are the versions you are most likely to meet in the hills.

Without onion and garlic

Some families never cook with onion or garlic. For this anabe saaru, leave both out, add a pinch of hing to the oil and grind a little extra coconut into the masala. The mushroom taste comes through more clearly.

Soured with kokum

In Uttara Kannada and the ghat taluks above the coast, many cooks use kokum rind (murugalu) in place of tamarind. Soak two or three pieces in warm water for 15 minutes and add the red water in step 8. The sourness is cleaner and the gravy takes a pinkish tint.

Anabe palya (dry)

For a side dish instead of anabe saaru, fry the mushrooms with onion, curry leaves, crushed pepper and a little grated coconut until dry. Serve it with rice and a thin saaru such as kokum saaru.

Extra heat

Add one crushed bird eye chilli (gandhari menasu) with the curry leaves in step 6. It gives a sharp heat on top of the pepper, so start with one.

What to serve with anabe saaru

Anabe saaru is best with soft rice flatbreads, rice dumplings or plain hot rice. The gravy is thin enough to soak in, so pick something that drinks it up.

• Akki rotti: thin Malenadu akki rotti torn and dipped in the gravy is the classic monsoon pairing.
• Kadubu: plain steamed rice kadubu soaks up the saaru well.
• Rice: hot rice with a ladle of anabe saaru, followed by curd rice or buttermilk.
• Happala: a fried or roasted halasina happala from the summer store adds crunch on a rainy day.

A spoon of ghee on the rice and a slice of pickle make anabe saaru a full meal on a cold evening. Finish with buttermilk if the pepper is strong.

Common anabe saaru mistakes and how to fix them

Most problems with anabe saaru come from wet mushrooms, burnt coconut or overcooking. This table shows what went wrong and how to fix it.

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Watery, bland gravy	mushrooms not fried dry first	fry on high heat until their water dries up
Rubbery mushrooms	cooked too long	add masala soon after frying, simmer 8 to 10 minutes only
Bitter gravy	coconut roasted too dark	roast on medium, stop at golden brown
Raw, powdery taste	masala not simmered enough	simmer until oil shows at the edges
Gritty bite	soil left on wild stems	scrape stems and rinse in a basin, not under a tap
Too sour	too much tamarind or kokum	add a little water and coconut paste

Salt the mushrooms lightly when you fry them, so they release water faster. Do not leave cooked anabe saaru standing on a warm stove for hours. Cool it and put it in the fridge.

Where to go next after anabe saaru

If you liked anabe saaru, make a stack of akki rotti to go with it next time. Our Malenadu food guide brings the hill recipes together by season. The list of spice and ingredient names in Kannada helps with words like gasagase and murugalu. For whole pepper, chillies and turmeric for your masala, see the spices section of our shop.

Frequently asked questions about anabe saaru