Upma
Upma is the most common South Indian breakfast dish, cooked from dry roasted semolina. It is a one of the most nutritious and healthiest breakfast one can have. There are many ways upma is prepared; indeed, every upma cooked usually will incorporate variations in flavor specific to that region. Making upma will take around 15 minutes if the semolina is dry roasted beforehand.
What you'll need :
Semolina (Rava) - 1 cup Cooking oil 3-4 tbsp ghee 1 tbsp Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp Green chillies 2-3 medium chopped into small rounds Chopped onions 1 medium chopped Salt to taste Vegetables of your choice: Peas, carrots, beans, capsicum Grated coconut 3-4 tbsp (optional) Sugar - 1 tsp Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp chopped Curry leaves 7-8
How to:
In a sauce pan, add 2.5 cups of water along with peas, carrots, beans and allow it to come to a boil. Add a 1/2 a tsp of salt to the water when it comes to a boil so that the vegetables are seasoned.
Dry-roast Semolina (rava) until it just begins to turn golden, keep aside to cool.
In a large non stick pan, heat cooking oil and ghee. Add mustard seeds and wait for them to sputter. Then add green chillies, curry leaves, chopped onions and fry until golden brown. Add the rava, sugar, boiling water with vegetables and stir vigorously so that no lumps are formed. Taste the upma. If needed added more salt. Cover the pan with a lid and allow to cook on slow flame for 5 minutes. The upma is done when all the water is absorbed by the rava. Garnish with grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves.
PS : It's very important that you dry roast semolina or else the upma will not have a nice texture. Try not to skip this step. Also use coarse rava instead of the fine ones whenever possible. The individual grains of rava stand apart when you dry roast and use coarse textured grains.