Start the new year with a light and warming breakfast
Upma may traditionally be a South Indian dish, but it’s made its way to breakfast tables across the Indian sub-continent. Made with semolina (also called rava or sooji), lentils, and seasonings, upma resembles a thick porridge and can be enjoyed in the mornings or a late afternoon snack.
This recipe of upma is by Alok Kumar, chef de partie of Hotel Jakson Inns Phaltan, Maharashtra.
Rava Upma Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup rava (use finer of variety sooji or semolina)
2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) or oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chana dal (split and husked Bengal gram)
1 teaspoon urad dal (split and husked black gram)
10 to 12 cashews (optional)
⅓ cup finely chopped onions or 1 medium-sized onion
1 teaspoon chopped green chili or 1 green chili
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger or 1 inch ginger
10 to 12 curry leaves
2.5 cups water
Salt as required
1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar or add as required (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
Steps
Finely chop 1 medium sized onion, 1 to 2 green chilies, ginger, and some coriander leaves.
Also prepare the remaining ingredients.
Heat a pan and add rava.
Begin to roast the rava. Stir often while roasting.
The rava grains should become fragrant and start to look dry, separate and crisp. Don’t let the rava turn brown.
Switch off the flame, transfer the roasted rava to a plate, and keep aside.
Next, in a separate pan, heat ghee or oil, then add the mustard seeds.
When you hear the crackling sound of mustard seeds, add the cumin seeds along with chana dal and urad dal.
Fry till they begin to brown a bit or turn lightly golden.
Immediately add cashews and begin to fry. By the time the cashews get golden the lentils will also change color.
Now add the finely chopped onions. Sauté the onions till they become translucent.
Then add the chopped green chili, ginger, and curry leaves. Sauté for a few seconds. You can also add a dried red chili at this step.
Then add 2.5 cups of water, sugar and salt as required to the preparation. Mix well and check the taste of water. It should be a bit salty but not too much.
Sugar is optional and you can skip it.
On a medium to high flame, heat the water and let it come to a rolling boil.
When the water comes to a rolling boil, lower the flame to the lowest setting. Then add the rava in 4 to 5 batches with a spoon.
Once you add the rava, mix and stir immediately. The entire batch of rava should get mixed with the water evenly. Then add the next batch of roasted rava. Mix and stir again.
Keep adding and stirring the rava up to the last batch. Quickly stir and mix well. The rava grains absorb water and swell as they cook.
Cover and allow the rava upma to steam for 2 to 3 minutes on low heat.
Then switch off the flame. The rava is now cooked and the upma is ready.
Lastly add chopped coriander leaves. Mix again.
Serve upma with coconut chutney, lime slices, or lime pickle.
