Mixed Vegetable Upma ( Uppumaavu )

Mixed Vegetable Upma / Uppumaavu

Upma is a dish ubiquitous in South India. It’s advantages are : - easy /quick to make, easy to digest and it can be made of minimum ingredients. A variety of Upma dishes can be made - right from the plain variety to the one with vegetables ( I have seen Upma with Tomatoes, green peas, carrots and all vegetables just like fried rice). It can be had either as plain, with a spicy side dish ( with potato curry - Kukka humman in Konkani cuisine, or with spicy savories like Mixture etc) or if one like sweet Upma, sprinkle a spoon full of sugar over it and here goes the sweet variety.

Featured here is a Mixed Vegetable Upma which I made for today’s breakfast made from rawa ( sooji ). This can also be made from broken whole wheat / dalia - which is more healthier.

Serves : 2 - 3
Preparation Time + Cooking time : 30 minutes

Ingredients

Please use same measuring cup to measure rawa and water

1 tablespoon ghee / sunflower oil / olive oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin ( jeera ) seeds

1/2 teaspoon urad dal

2 green chillies , slit lengthwise

1 - inch piece ginger,  finely chopped

1 spring dark green curry leaves or 6 nos

1 onion, finely sliced

1 / 4 cup ( 50 g ) finely chopped carrots and French beans

1 cup / 200 ml  dry roasted rawa ( sooji ) (Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity

1 3/4 cup water

3/4 teaspoon salt ( or to taste )

1/4 cup / 3 tablespoon  grated coconut for garnishing ( optional )

Method

Heat oil in a wide karahi / frying pan . Add mustard seeds. When they start splutter add jeera ( cumin ) seeds and urad dal. Saute for 2- 3 minutes.

Add slit green chillies, ginger and curry leaves. Shallow fry for 3 - 4 minutes or till it fragrant.

Add chopped onions and fry on a low heat till golden brown in color.

Add finely chopped carrots and French beans. Saute for 5- 8 minutes .

Add water and salt. Cover with a lid and boil water on a medium heat.

When the water starts boiling , remove the lid, reduce heat to minimum. Pour rawa evenly with one hand and simultaneously stir with a spatula with the other hand. Mixing of rawa in boiling water is very important while making upma. It should be mixed evenly - else it may form lumps - which totally spoils the dish.

Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 5 - 8 minutes till all the water evaporates. Mix/ turn the Upma once in a while. Once ready, sprinkle grated coconut ( optional) and serve with Kerala Mixture / Alu Bhujia / Kukka Humman / Potato Palya ...