Mushroom Cigars

I first came upon this recipe when my friend Sonia tried it back in 2005. She took some cooking lessons from Tarla Dalal and team just before her wedding. It was tedious back then but quite fascinating. I finally tried this yesterday. The process is still tedious but thank god for the readily available wonton wraps. But trust me the effort is well rewarded when you present this finger food at your party. And make sure you prepare ample because they get gobbled up in a jiffy!

You can use the stuffing of your choice. I used mushrooms in half of them and paneer in the rest. The best thing about these cigars is you can make the stuffing or the cigars themselves ahead of time and freeze them. Fry them up when you want to eat them yourselves or for your surprise guests. Serve them with the spicy mayo sauce to add that extra zing!

INGREDIENTS:

Mushrooms - 10-12, finely chopped (I used crimini but you can use the mushrooms you like)

Red Onion, 1/2 cup finely chopped

Garlic, chopped 1 tbsp

Spring Onions, 3-5 stalks and bulbs separate and finely chopped

Green Chilies, 1 chopped

Cheese, grated 1 tablespoon (I used mozzarella, but you can use whatever you have on hand)

Wonton wrappers, 20

Plain flour, 3 tbsp

Butter, 1 tsp

Olive oil, 1 tsp

Black pepper, crushed 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil to fry

METHOD:

1. Crush green chili and garlic together in a blender

2. Finely chop the spring onion bulbs and greens separately and keep them aside

3. Heat a wok. Once hot add the olive oil and the butter and let it melt. Once the oil is hot add in the green chili and garlic and cook with the turns brown.

4. Add in the red onions and the spring onion bulbs and saute till translucent

 5. Now add in the chopped mushrooms and salt. Saute till the water from the mushrooms evaporates.

6. Add in the crushed pepper and spring onion greens and turn off the heat.

7. Transfer it on to another bowl and add the cheese

 

8. Let the mixture cool completely

 9. Take a bowl, add in the plain flour and about 2-3 tbsp of water. Mix together till its a smooth paste. We will use this to seal our cigar at both ends. 

10. If you are using frozen wrappers please ensure you put them in the fridge overnight to thaw them.

11. Place the wrapper on a flat surface. Place a spoonful of the stuffing on one corner of the wrapper.

12. Roll up the cigar as shown in the below picture.

13. Now smear the ends with the flour paste on both ends and seal them well. These dry up pretty fast and they also stick together if we keep them too close. Its a good idea to keep them covered as you make these and keep a distance between each cigar so they don't stick together. 

 

14. Heat oil in a wok and fry the cigars few at a time until they are brown and crisp on both sides and remove them on a paper towel

15. These cigars are best had hot so don't wait too long to have them! And serve them with chili mayo which goes great with these cigars. Just mix together some mayonnaise and chili paste. 

If you don't like mushrooms, you can replace them with paneer. In a bowl take grated paneer, mix together chopped onions, chopped green chilies, finely chopped coriander, salt to taste and mix this together and stuff into the wonton wrappers.