Didu’s Upma

Ingredients:

  • Curry leaves (10-12)
  • Mustard seeds (1 Tbsp)
  • Onion (finely chopped – 1/4 cup)
  • Carrots (finely grated – 1/3 cup)
  • Tomatoes (1-1.5 cups: I usually chop  3 medium sized)
  • Green peas (1/3 cup)
  • Semolina/Sooji (1 cup)
  • Chana dal or broken peanuts – a handful
  • Green chilly (optional – chopped 1)
  • Oil – 2 Tbsp
  • Water – as required ( I usually need about 1.5 to 2 cups)
  • Salt – as required

Cooking method:

  1. Heat oil in a wok/skillet/saucepan to medium high
  2. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves – Allow to sputter
  3. Add the dal or peanuts and dry roast for 1-1.5 mins
  4. Add the onion and chilly (if using) and wait till the onion turns translucent
  5. Add the semolina and dry roast until it just starts to turn light brown – Stir once in a while to prevent it from getting burnt and lower the flame when the color is uniformly very light brown
  6. Add the carrots and green peas – Mix and continue to stir for a minute or two
  7. Add the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle salt
  8. Mix everything thoroughly
  9. Gradually add water in different sections of the mixture and continue to stir to avoid lump formation – Don’t add too much water in a section, it’ll become watery – You’ll notice that the semolina starts coming together and becoming soft in the areas where it moistens – You want to make sure the water is added very slowly and uniformly across all areas of the mixture
  10. Once desired softness in consistency is uniformly achieved, turn off the flame and serve yourself a hot bowl!

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