These tandoori mushrooms are first stuffed with a flavorful filling made with cream cheese, onion, peppers, cilantro chutney and then coated in a marinade with yogurt and spices and baked to perfection in the oven. The final charring of the mushrooms over direct heat gives these mushrooms that smoky flavor which takes the flavors a notch-up!

Mushrooms appetizers are some of my favorite appetizers like the mushroom tikka, avocado mushroom crostini and more! However, these Tandoori Mushrooms might just be my top favorite. There’s so much flavor going on here and its very hard to stop at just one! They are golden brown from outside and filled with a spicy and cheesy filling on the inside.

These tandoori mushrooms are unlike any other mushroom you might have had. They are stuffed with a filling made with cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, cilantro chutney, onion and peppers. And once stuffed, these are coated with a flavorful marinade made with yogurt and spices and then baked to golden perfection. For the final touch, these are cooked over direct heat which gives them that smoky aroma and flavor. You definitely cannot skip this step!

In restaurants they cook this entirely in tandoor however since we don’t have that at home, roasting over direct heat becomes crucial for that flavor.

These Tandoori Mushrooms

• make a great vegetarian appetizer.
• are so flavorful, you won’t be able to stop eating them!
• have a smoky flavor because they are charred over direct heat.
• are best enjoyed with cilantro chutney with a squeeze of lime juice.

Ingredients

The ingredients can be divided into 2 parts- for the stuffing and for the marinade.

Stuffing

For this recipe, I have used white mushrooms but crimini mushrooms can also be used. The stuffing is made with the mushroom stems, onion, ginger, garlic, peppers, cream cheese and cilantro chutney. The cheesy and spicy filling is the highlight of this recipe.

Marinade

Make sure to use thick yogurt for this recipe. If you are using homemade yogurt and it’s very thin, drain the yogurt using a strainer for 3 to 4 hours and then use in the recipe. Other than the yogurt, there are spices like cardamom powder, garam masala and Kashmiri red chili powder in this marinade.

Step by Step Instructions

Prep the Mushrooms

1- Scrub the mushrooms and pat them dry with a kitchen towel. Then start removing the mushroom stems. It’s really easy to remove the stems, just give it a twist and pull out. It easily comes out or you can even use a paring knife.

2- Remove all stems similarly and keep your mushrooms ready. These were 16 oz/454 grams of mushrooms.

3- Now, take all the stems that you just removed and put them in a food processor or chopper. Finely chop the mushroom stems and set it aside.

Make the stuffing

4- Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add 1-inch chopped ginger, 4-5 chopped garlic, 1 chopped green chili and 1/2 cup chopped red onion. Cook for 2 minutes until the onions soften.

5- Add 1/2 cup chopped peppers (I used a mix of green & red) and the chopped mushroom stems that we had prepped earlier. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

6- Mix and cook for 5 to 6 minutes until the moisture from the mixture dries up. Remove the pan from heat.

7- To make the stuffing, take 4 oz cream cheese (room temperature) in a bowl and add 1 & 1/2 tablespoons cilantro chutney to it. Mix using a spatula until well combined.

8- Add 2 tablespoons grated mozzarella cheese and the prepared onion-mushroom and pepper mixture to it. Also add remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoons crushed kasuri methi.

9- Mix until it is all well combined. The stuffing for the mushroom is now ready.

10- Take the prepared mushrooms and fill the cavities with the prepared filling. Fill them all the way to the top so they are heaping full. You might be left with some of the stuffing and you can fill some more mushrooms if you have extra. Set these aside and work on the marinade.

Make the marinade

11- To make the marinade, take a large pan/bowl and add 6 tablespoons of yogurt to it. Make sure the yogurt is thick, you can drain the yogurt using a strainer for 3 to 4 hours and then use in the recipe.

Now, to that yogurt add the following:

• 2 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 & 1/2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

12- Using a whisk, mix until everything is well combined and the marinade is smooth.

13- Add the mushrooms to the marinade.

14- Mix until the mushrooms are well coated with the prepared marinade. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.

15-Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with an oil spray. Arrange the stuffed tandoori mushrooms on the baking sheet and spray with more oil on top. Bake at 400 F degrees for around 20 to 25 minutes. I baked mine for 25 minutes.

16- Take them out of the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. To give the mushrooms that smoky flavor (which is really important for tandoori mushrooms) we need to char the mushrooms over direct heat. Arrange them on a skewer. Don’t overcrowd, place only 3 to 4 mushrooms per skewer.

Place them over direct heat (I placed a wire mesh first) and hold the mushrooms a few inches above the direct flame. Rotate the skewer 30 seconds each side, until the mushrooms get a little charred. They will have that smoky flavor now. Serve immediately!

Arranging on Skewers Before Baking

The obvious question that will come to your mind is – why not arrange these mushrooms on the skewers first before baking? Why to bake them first and then place them on skewers to char them.

You can definitely arrange them on skewers like we do in mushroom tikka but remember if you do so, leave absolutely no space between each mushroom on the skewer. They should be tightly packed to each other. What happens when you leave space between each mushroom is that all the filling will come out as they bake in the oven.

It is okay when they are not stuffed but here the mushrooms are stuffed. And you have to stack them very closely so that the filling doesn’t come out. So if you are going to arrange them on skewers first and then bake, make sure you keep this important thing in mind else you will be left with hollow mushrooms with all the filling spilled out on the baking tray.

Can You Broil?

For this tandoori mushroom recipe, you cannot skip the last step of charring the mushrooms on direct heat. We don’t have tandoor at home (unlike restaurants) and so charring them over heat is important to replicate that flavor. Now, the obvious question here will be can I broil them in the oven instead?

And my answer would be yes and no. Yes, if you are just looking for some brown spots on them and don’t care about the smoky flavor and no if you want that smoky flavor. For that flavor, you have to char them directly on heat. I highly recommend not broiling and roasting them on direct heat once they are baked in the oven. It will give the mushrooms that aroma that we associate with all things tandoori!

Cooking on Stove-top

I baked the mushrooms in the oven but you can also cook these in a pan on stove-top. Take a flat pan and brush it generously with oil. Now, place the stuffed mushrooms carefully on the pan, spray the top with an oil spray. Cook until mushrooms turn golden brown, and then finish over direct heat until they are a little charred.

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