The “out of ordinary” Upma

Is upma (உப்புமா) a mundane food in your household, greeted with upturned noses? Try these nutritious and flavorful variations from the plain cream of wheat (or rice), mustard seeds, green/ red chilli combination.

2 cups quick cooking cream of wheat, also known as farina (not the instant kind), or Indian rava

1 cup each onions, carrots and frozen peas (chop carrots and onions)

2 small tomatoes, quartered

1 tblsp grated or chopped ginger

2 small chopped green chillies

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp urad dal

1 tsp chana dal

1 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp asafetida (hing)

2 small red chillies, crushed (seeds removed to reduce the ‘heat’)

4 cups water

4 – 6 tblsp cooking oil

A few curry leaves

2 tblsp chopped coriander leaves

2 – 3 tsp salt

2 tblsp broken cashews

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add mustard, cumin, red chillies, urad and chana dals. When they start turning light golden, add the cashews. Add onions, ginger, curry leaves and green chillies. Saute for a minute or two, add turmeric, asafetida, salt and carrots. Let cook for a few minutes; add the frozen peas and tomatoes. Stir fry until crisp-tender.

Add the rava and fry on low heat for 5 minutes, taking care not to burn it. Add water; increase the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat again to low and cook, stirring frequently to break up any lumps. Cook until it reaches upma consistency and starts leaving the sides of the pan, forming a mass in the middle.

Try these variations:

*Substitute all or part of the cream of wheat with cream of brown rice, multi-grain farina or steel-cut oats (if the brown rice or multi-grain farina is very coarse, run it through a blender or spice mill to make it finer; the steel-cut oats will definitely require this step).

*Use assorted chopped vegetables (fresh or frozen) in lieu of peas and carrots alone, with or without onions and tomatoes.

*Make a coarse powder out of moong, chana or toor dal and add to the rava for added flavor.