The first time I went to Kazakhstan it was quite difficult to do the veggie thing when eating out. It was in 1996, and things were still at a fairly basic stage of evolution following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Restaurants were few, as were the items on their menus and most of those items were meat dishes. Mushrooms were the exception. Most restaurants had a mushroom dish in some form and it would almost always be vegetarian (well, lacto-veg, at least). Fried mushrooms with potatoes or with sour-cream were the usual offerings.
One day, in a restaurant I hadn't visited before, I ordered mushrooms with sour-cream and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the chef had added a wee pinch of curry powder to the dish. It was very good. I'd heard of curried mushrooms but had never tried them - never fancied the combination - but that little pinch of spices really did something for those mushrooms.
So, that was in 1996....and in early summer of 2008, while travelling across a high plateau in Syunik region of south Armenia, I bought a bucket of field blewits from a roadside vendor. That's a lot of mushrooms and I had to think up a lot of things to do with them that week. I remembered the curry powder and thought I'd give it a shot. I never have curry powder in the house, but I made up a mixture from some spices I had (you might have different ones. It doesn't have to be exactly the combination I used). I substituted yoghurt for the sour-cream as we were in the middle of a 'let's try to eat less calories' trip. The result was a very pleasant, mildly spicy meal that we all enjoyed.
With garnishes, this will serve three or four people.
About 700g of mushrooms
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
About a cup of yoghurt (or a small pot)
A couple of pinches each of turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger and cinnamon
Salt
Olive oil
Slice the mushrooms and chop the garlic. Fry the garlic gently for a minute and then add the mushrooms. Fry for five minutes or so. If the mushrooms are from the forest or field and it was damp when you gathered them, a lot of liquid will appear in the pan. If this happens, turn up the heat and drive off the liquid. The mushrooms are ready when the liquid has all gone.
Add the spices and stir for a minute then turn stir in the yoghurt and salt to taste.
I would recommend serving with steamed rice or boiled new potatoes (seasoned with a little mint) and a green salad.