VEGETABLE UPMA (Savory Semolina Fudge)

South Indian cuisine has a very big fan following among north Indian people! The dishes are healthy, flavorful and provide a vast appetite for variations.

A plate of steaming hot Upma defines a good morning ☀️ A perfect start to the day is with a hearty breakfast! Upma is a very healthy and filling dish with lots of variants.

On my plate today is a mix vegetable Upma which has the goodness of carrots, bell peppers, beans, ginger and onions (as I have mentioned before, I like to add a lot of veggies in my dishes to make them extra nutritious)! Everything is very finely chopped just so that the veggies encompass semolina (Suji) well!

The secret to a good upma is the suji:water (1:3.5) ratio as well as how much to roast suji! Suji should be roasted just right, do not brown it! Just until you start to get the aroma!

Recipe:

Suji(semolina)- 1 cup

Water- 3.5 cups

Ghee- 2 tbsp (1 each to roast sooji and veggies)

Curry leaves- 10

Your Choice of veggies (carrots, bell peppers, beans, onions) - 1 cup (finely chopped)

Ginger- 1.5 tsp (finely chopped)

Green chilli- 1 (chopped)

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

Chana dal- 1 tsp

Black pepper- 1 tsp

Salt- to taste

Lemon juice-1.5 tsp

Peanuts- 1/4 cup (Dry roasted)- Optional (I did not use it in this recipe)

Method:

1.Roast suji in 1 tbsp ghee until it tuns aromatic (do not brown). Take off the flame and keep roasted suji in a plate.

2. In the same pan, heat 1 tbsp ghee and to it add mustard seeds, chana dal , curry leaves, green chilli and ginger.

3. Add onion and let it roast for a minute.

4. Add the veggies and let them cook for 2-3 min and add black pepper.

5. Add water, salt, lemon juice. Let the water heat up.

6. Then add suji and stir continuously on low flame. Let suji absorb all the water. Add ghee (optional) in the end and cover for 1 min. Serve hot 😊

It goes well with coconut chutney, however I like it as it is.