This is a traditional south Indian upma made with coarsely ground rice, tur dal . It is a very soothing breakfast to have in winters as the main spice is pepper and cumin. One can add seasonal veggies like peas and Lima beans to this to make it a wholesome meal. I have paired it with gotsu which is again a south India side accompaniment made with veggies and tamarind water which can be served with this Upma or Pongal or even with plain rice.
Ingredients :
- 1 cup raw rice
- 2 tbsp tur dal
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup grated coconut
- 1/4 cup boiled peas or Lima beans ( pawta)
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1 dry red chilly
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp channa dal
- Curry leaves
- Salt
- Oil
- Water 21/4- 2.5 cup
How to make:
How to make Upma
- In a mixer grinder dry grind rice, tur dal, jeera and black pepper to a coarse powder like rava.
- In a pan add oil. Add mustard seeds, channa dal , red chilly . Once the mustard splitter and channa dal turns light brown add 2.5 cups of water.
- Add the curry leaves, coconut, salt and let it boil really well.
- As it’s boiling slowly add the rice powder and keep whisking so no lumps are formed.
- The rice will absorb the water quickly .
- Cover the pan with a lid and cook on the lowest flame for 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle a little water if you find the rice and dal still need cooking.
- Remove lid and mix well . Fluffy soft rice Upma is ready
How to make Gotsu
- Mix of onion , capsicum and tomato. Cut into medium sized pieces
- Extract tamarind water for a Lemon sized piece of tamarind
- In a pan add a tsp oil. Add mustard seeds.
- To this add the chopped veggies , salt and 1 tsp sambhar powder
- Roast for a 2-3 minutes
- To this add the tamarind water and also 1-2 glasses of water and let all this boil till the veggies are cooked and the raw smell of the sambhar powder goes.
- Make a lump free slurry if 1 tbsp besan with 3-4 tbsp water
- Add this to the gotsu in the pan along with 1 tsp jaggery
- When this boils it will thicken
- Remove from flame and serve with arsi Upma or Pongal