Semolina (Suji) Upma with purple Carrots and Peas
Upma can be made in a jiffy as it is essentially a one-pot recipe requiring a minimal level of preparation. It is a great food option to be included in the meals of Diabetics, pregnant ladies, new mothers, and smalll children.
Servings: 4 people
Cost: $5
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Semolina or suji
- 2 Medium Purple Carrots cut into small pieces - 1/4 inch
- 1 Cup Frozen green peas
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1½ inch Fresh ginger root
- 1 Large Tomato
- 2 Cups Water
- 1½ tsp Salt To Taste
- 1½ tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1½ tsp Roasted Chana Daal (Bengal Gram) optional
- 1½ tsp Urad Daal (Peeled Black Lentils) optional
- 2-3 tbsp Ghee Replace it with cooking oil of your choice or add sesame oil instead. We added more ghee for the taste and nutrition. Upma can surely be made with a lesser amount - 1 tablespoon is usually enough.
- 2-3 sprigs Fresh curry leaves
Instructions
- Heat a pan and dry roast the semolina. Take the semolina out of the pan and keep it aside in a bowl.
- Wash and cut the veggies. Keep aside seperately.
- Pound the ginger or finely grate it.
- In a pressure cooker add the carrots and green peas and cook them separately.
- Heat the pan and put ghee in it. We used a pressure cooker. You can also use a rice cooker for this recipe.
- Add the ghee to the pan. When ghee is little hot, add mustard seeds and let them splutter.
- Add curry leaves, urad dal, and chana dal. Stir for 10 seconds.
- Add onion and ginger and stir till the mix turns golden brown.
- Add tomato and keep stirring till they turn soft and mushy.
- Add salt and rest of the vegetables (if not cooked separately in a pressure cooker).
- Mix and cover the pan. Let the mix cook on low heat till the vegetables turn soft.
- After 10-15 mins, remove the cover and add the roasted semolina. Mix well.
- Add water to the mix and again stir well to make a consistent paste.
- Let it cook for another 2-3 mins on low heat.
- Keep covered for another 5-7 mins as it will further cook and soften the semolina.
- Serve with Sambhar or Coconut chutney. Enjoy!
Notes
We used a pressure cooker to precook the carrots and green peas as it speeds up the process and also makes the vegetables soft for kids to chew and swallow. Usually, the vegetables in upma are stir-fried to give them a crunchy texture and hence the taste. Another tip would be to keep the flame low at every step of cooking.