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Upma

Upma for Two

A popular, savoury Indian breakfast dish Upma is easy to make and delicious to eat. Made with Suji and seasonal vegetables, it's low-calorie and quite nutritious.

Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 2 People
Author Chandrima

Ingredients

  • ½ cup / 80g- Suji / Rawa
  • 1- Boiled potato medium-sized (medium-sized)
  • 1- Onion (medium-sized)
  • 1 tsp- Ginger (chopped)
  • 2- Green chillies (halved)
  • Salt to taste
  • 1½ tbsp- Ghee / Clarified butter
  • 1 tbsp- Vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp- Peas
  • 2 tbsp- Roasted peanuts
  • 2- Green onions (chopped, read notes)
  • 1 tbsp- Desiccated coconut (optional)

For tempering

  • ¼ tsp- Black mustard seeds
  • ½ tsp- Roasted chana dal / bhuna chana dal (read notes)
  • 2 sprigs- Curry leaves

Instructions

  1. Peel and cut the onion into thin slices, keep aside.

  2. In a frypan dry fry suji over medium heat until the suji looks toasted, or light brown in colour. Remove from the heat and keep aside.

  3. Peel and cut the boiled potatoes into cubes, keep aside.

  4. Heat oil and ghee in a frypan, temper with mustard seeds. 

  5. Add the onions and a pinch of salt, sauté the onions over medium heat until light brown in colour, add the curry leaves in-between.

  6. Next, add the potatoes, and a pinch of salt, sauté for a minute.

  7. Add the chopped ginger, green chillies, and mix quickly.

  8. Next, add the suji, salt, green onions, peanuts, and peas, mix well, and add a splash of water. Now as you go on with the cooking, keep adding splashes of water (2-3 times) and allow the suji grains to turn softer. 

  9. Don’t add water at one go while cooking the upma. Adding too much water at the beginning of the cooking makes the upma a homogeneous mixture, where the textures from different ingredients become hard to experience.

  10. The ideal upma is neither lumpy nor dry, and the suji will appear moist, fluffy, and well-cooked.

  11. Add desiccated coconut (if using) when the suji becomes moist, mix well, and remove from the heat. The addition of desiccated coconut enhances the flavour of the Upma, so if you haven’t added it earlier to your upma, you must try it now.

  12. Serve Upma immediately, if you wish you can pair the Upma with chutney, enjoy! 

Recipe Notes

  • The roasted Chana dal we used in this recipe is not the usual raw chana dal that you can toast and add. This Chana dal is prepared differently for South Indian recipes. Buy this toasted Chana dal from any South Indian grocery store, or get it online.
  • Never use the raw chana dal after toasting to prepare the Upma, as they might taste bitter in the food.
  • Use the green onions if they’re available with you, otherwise, you can add seasonal vegetables like boiled carrots and french beans to the Upma.
  • In my recipes, I use 250 ml cups. 1 cup = 250ml.