“Upma is a versatile, tasty South Indian snack served either for breakfast or tea. Though the recipe for upma is simple, not all cooks can turn out good upma ,” says Chandri Bhat, a well-known culinary expert with 45 years of experience. She goes on to say that “if I were to recruit a South Indian cook, I would ask him to make upma to test his cooking skill”. The culinary guru says that upma should not be too greasy and definitely not a sticky mess.
Upma gyan
The seasoning for upma varies from very simple to more elaborate. But the secret to a good upma lies in following some basic rules:
First roast the rava lightly. The roasting should be done with patience, on moderate heat, stirring the rava constantly for even heating. Roast until it emits a pleasant aroma without letting it turn brown in colour. The fat used (either a good quality vegetable oil or a mix of oil and ghee ; surely not hydrogenated fat) should be just the right amount. Too much fat makes the upma heavy, greasy and unhealthy. Too little will render it sticky and unpalatable.
The proportion of water varies from three to four cups of water for one cup of rava , depending on the quality of rava . Very fine rava needs lesser water than the slightly coarse variety.
Seasoning should be done carefully to bring out the flavour of each ingredient fully, without letting any of the ingredients burn or under cook.
Vegetable Upma
Ingredients
2 tbsp oil (preferably gingely, peanut or coconut oil)
1tspn mustard
1tspn cumin
1tbspn urad dal
4 nos slit green chillies
Curry leaves
½ cup onions chopped
3 cups water
1 tspn ginger minced
1 cup grated carrot
½ cup boiled green peas
1 cup whole wheat rava
½ cup grated coconut
Salt to taste
Method
Heat oil in a kadai over moderate heat. Lower the heat and add mustard seeds. When they begin to crackle, add cumin seeds, let it crackle and then add urad dal and cook till it turns golden brown.
Now, add green chillies and curry leaves. Cook for 10 seconds. Add onion. Increase the heat to moderate and cook till the onion is slightly softened and turns pink. Add water. Cover and simmer for two minutes. Add ginger, carrot and green peas. Add the rava and salt. Mix well. Cover and leave on low heat for three to four minutes, till cooked. Stir the upma a couple of times while it cooks. Stir in the grated coconut and serve hot.
Chandri Bhat has now retired and lives in Malaysia with her daughter. She has worked as a consultant with various restaurants in Chennai. Her heart is in South Indian cooking. Upma is her favourite dish .
