Upma With Vegetables

Who doesn’t enjoy upma for breakfast or as an evening snack? By adding vegetables, this popular dish simply gets better. So, go ahead and try it with whatever veggies you enjoy.

Credit: Indian Vegan Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 cup sooji (semolina/rawa)
• 1-1½ cup chopped carrots and French beans or peas
• 1 medium sized onion (optional)
• ½ cup grated coconut
• ¼ cup chopped coriander
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 2-3 green chillies (depending on the degree of heat and as per your taste)
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• ¼ tsp asafoetida powder
• 1tbsp date paste (3 soft dates soaked in just about enough water to cover it and then blended or mashed with your fingers to a paste)
• 1 tsp unrefined rock salt or to taste
• 1 lime
• 3 cups water

Method

1. Chop the onions and add 1 teaspoon of rock salt, mix and let them rest for 15 minutes to release moisture.
2. Chop the carrots and French beans into ½ inch pieces, and the green chillies finely and keep them aside ready to use.
3. Heat an iron kadhai (Indian wok) or a thick bottomed steel pot and dry roast the semolina in it on medium to low heat till it releases its aroma and just begins to change colour. Transfer it to a shallow bowl to prevent it from roasting further.
4. Sauté the onions in a thick bottomed steel pot for around 5 minutes.
5. Add the vegetables and ½ cup of water and cook till they are almost done and the water has all evaporated.
6. For the tempering, heat an iron tempering ladle on medium heat and add the mustard seeds. Sauté them to ensure all of them get heated evenly. Wait till they crackle and pop. Transfer them to the vegetables.
7. Add the curry leaves to the tempering ladle and turn down the heat to low. Roast them for 10 seconds till they release their aroma. Transfer them to the vegetables.
8. Add the asafoetida to the ladle and sauté for five seconds or so till it releases its aroma.  Transfer this to the vegetables.
9. Add the chopped chillies, date paste and 3 cups of water to the vegetables and bring to a boil on high heat. The traditional recipe requires only 2½ cups of water. The extra half cup of water will ensure the upma is soft.
10. Add the roasted semolina stirring as you add it. Keep stirring till it absorbs all the water.
11. Cover the pot and leave it on low heat for 3-5 minutes.
12. Turn off the heat, squeeze lime juice, add the grated chopped coconut and coriander (leaving a little of each for garnishing) and mix it well.
13. Serve hot garnished with grated coconut and coriander.