Upma / Uppittu is a humble breakfast dish popular in the South India.Though,It involves only a few ingredients; there is a knack to preparing this dish to perfection. I have shared some of the key points in this post; which I have answered on Quora. Preparing ubiquitous upma is no easy task. If you overlook minute details,you make a mess of it.
1.Roasting
semolina/ rava is very vital. Always dry roast semolina on medium heat.
Burnt semolina will render upma unappetizing. But now a days double
roasted semolina is readily available.
2.Proportion of water and semolina too is very vital for the soft consistency. Excess amount of water will make the upma flowing and sticky. Inadequate amount of water will result in hard upma.
3.Always pour boiling water over the sauteed ingredients and slowly add in the roasted semolina and keep stirring in mild heat. Adding cold water will result in lump formation. Hence always roll boil water.
4.Add right amount of oil. Too much of oil will make upma indigestible. Lesser amount of oil will result in sticky upma.
5.Be careful while adding salt. It is really hard to fix over salted food. If the amount of salt is less,then take a tablespoon of boiling water and add salt mix well till it dissolves. Now add this to the prepared upma and simmer in mild heat till salt mixes evenly and switch off the stove.
6.There are two variants of semolina. Coarse variant absorbs more water where as the finer variant requires less amount of water.
How
do I make plain but tasty Upma without green chilies, curry leaves,
urad dal and vegetables since my brother doesn't like anything added to
Upma?
Here
is a upma with slight variation : Blend sauteed tomatoes,coconut,garlic
,chili powder ,garam masala to a fine paste and keep it aside.
In
a pan heat oil and roast semolina for a while and over this add the
paste and saute well.Pour boiling water,salt over this and keep stirring
till thickens and reaches upma consistency.Serve with dollop of ghee on
it.
Which side dish goes well with upma?
Sambar,chutney,pickle
goes well with upma; Some people even enjoy it with sugar. I always
love the raw onion chutney with semolina or rava upma. It is very easy
to prepare and the most suitable side dish for bland upma.Here is the
recipe
Onion- 2 nos, red chillies- 3 nos, jaggery powdered- 1 tsp,tamarind- small piece,even tamarind syrup can be added,salt to taste.
In a mixer take all the ingredients in raw form and grind to paste using very little water and add the seasoning.
For seasoning- Add one tsp of oil,add mustard when it splutters switch off.
Do we use suji (semolina flour) or rava to make upma different from the normal suji we use?
There
are two variants of rava or semolina. One is the coarse variety and the
other is fine variant similar to flour. For preparing upma the coarse
rava is chosen. This variety is dry roasted before adding water and
other ingredients. Coarse texture of the rava helps in absorbing the
water and prevents the upma from turning gooey. Hence it helps in
retaining the fluffy texture.
Where
as the fine version is used as a flour in preparing rava dosa,chiroti
and savory snacks. This version is not preferred for upma as it becomes
gooey or lumpy in consistency.
Upma or Uppittu is a classic South Indian breakfast dish made from semolina or cream of wheat. What difference does it make to taste and texture if semolina is either roasted dry or with fat? If answer is some fat, should we use oil or ghee?
Semolina
is roasted prior to preparing upma for the consistency. Because
roasting prevents upma from becoming sticky and lumpy. There are double
roasted semolina brands available in the market. Hence it makes your
work easier as you can add the roasted semolina directly to sauteed
ingredients and add a dollop of the ghee at the end to enhance the
taste.
In
case your are using unroasted semolina,then you can roast it in ghee or
vanaspathi (hydrogenated vegetable oil) for the flavour. Oil doesn’t
impart any taste to upma as it helps in making the consistency of upma
soft and fluffy.
RECIPE FOR SEMOLINA UPMA
Semolina / rava ( coarse variant )- 1 cup
Water- 2 cups
Onion- 2 nos
Green chillies- 2 nos
Minced ginger- 1 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Oil- 1 tbsp
Gram dal- 1 tsp
Spli urad dal- 1 tsp
Mustard- 1 tsp
Salt to taste
PROCEDURE
In a pan add a teaspoon of ghee and roast semolina and switch off.
Heat two cups of boiling water along with salt.
In a pan add cooking oil. When it is hot add mustard. When it starts to splutter, add gram dal,urad dal,chopped onions,minced ginger,green chillies,curry leaves and fry well till the onions turn translucent.
Now transfer the roasted semolina over the sauteed ingredients. Add the boiling hot water over the roasted semolina and keep the stove in sim.
Keep stirring,till the semolina absorbs the water completely and the mixture swells in quantity and thickens. At this stage,switch off the stove.
Add 2 tsp of ghee over the hot upma and serve with any chutney of your choice.
