Mussels (Tisrya/ Shimpli) in butter garlic wine sauce

Mussels or Tisrya or Shimpli are small shellfish that are a rich source of zinc. So an occassional indulgence in them is welcome to boost essential "vitamins and minerals" in ones body. 

todays lunch - mussels in butter garlic wine sauce on a 

bed of freshly tossed salad - ummm, divine, super comfort food

Mussels need to be washed under running cold water to clean the sand and dirt on them and you can either slice them open or put them in the fridge for half an hour (so they open a bit on their own). Retain the shell that has the mussel and discard the other half. For more detailed mussels cleaning tips you can visit http://sharemykitchen.com/few-things-about-mussels/.

reserving the shell that has the mussel and discarding the other half

Today i made the most common receipe for mussels - butter garlic mussels with white wine. And this is how it was made.

Servings: 8 (about 6 mussels per serving)

Ingredients:

Mussels (Shimpli/ Tisrya) - 1 kg

6 to 8 medium garlic cloves chopped

1 medium onion chopped

1 tbsp butter (used salted so reduced seasoning)

1 tsp oil (olive preferable - i use coconut for almost all cooking)

1 1/2 tbsp white wine (more if you want more broth)

salt and pepper to taste

simple ingredients and some white wine

Accompaniments:

Bread (we skipped it today for a no carb indulgence)

Any Salad (today it was a combination of iceberg lettuce, blanched broccoli, sliced cucumber and tomato seasoned with salt n pepper along with a big teaspoon of mayyonaise)

Method:

Keep washed and cleaned mussels on shells ready. Heat butter and oil (oil so that butter doesn't burn) in a wok (kadai) and add chopped garlic, fry a bit and then add chopped onions. Fry them until they are soft and cooked. Then add the white wine, a bit of salt (since mussels are salt water babies and salted butter is being used) and pepper. You may want to add thyme for extra taste but i did not. Then add the mussels on shells and the reserve liquid that comes along with it sitting in the bowl. Mix all the ingredients. 

mussels in the wok cooking in the wine broth

Cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, switch of the stove and let it rest for a bit. 

You may want to decorate it with corriander leaves / parsley but i wasn't in the mood for decoration today.

It tasted superb with the salad and i am sure would have been quite a heavy meal if we had included some bread (which can be dipped in the heavenly broth/ curry). 

A special mention needs to be made to the "bill". The mussels costed me Rs.100 per kg and i am always skeptical since the meat weighs hardly 100 or at most 200 gms and the rest is shells. However, this receipe makes it value for money - sheerly due to the broth which can be had with bread.

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