Masala Upma

As a kid I never liked upma and when ever my mom prepares this she had to make some alternative for me but I used to eat khara bath in hotels.After marriage I started eating upma as this is really a life saver when there is no time or patience to cook.
I would like to introduce another chef from our home...are you thinking that it would be my husband??..No way.. if he prepares tea I have to throw it and prepare another cup for me,that is the status of my husband's cooking skills...and the super chef I am talking about is my sweet brother..:)..He claims that he is a super chef at our house.Ofcourse some dishes he prepares were appreciated even by his in-laws and especially his upma has a huge fan following in our family.Even my husband is a big fan of my brother's upma and whenever I prepare upma, he always compares it with my brother's upma(like a standard).Even though I follow the same procedure I could not achieve the same standard level as he does.His hands work like a jaadu on this upma and makes it more tastier.But one thing I hate about his cooking is the mess he would have created while cooking and we end up cleaning the kitchen for more time than he took for cooking.And also he behaves like a boss in kitchen and order us to chop the vegetables for him...:)But the end results will be so good to forget everything..and here comes this yummy upma recipe all the while I was talking about.

Ingredients:

1 cup regular Sooji/Baarik sooji/Lapsi rava
1 big Onion finely sliced
1 big Tomato finely chopped
1 medium Carrot very finely chopped
4 green chillies,thinly sliced
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
2 tbsp chopped coriander
1 lemon squeezed
2 tbsp grated wet coconut
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala
a pinch of turmeric
1 tbsp Chana dal
1 tsp split Urad dal
8-10 Curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp Ghee


Method:

• Dry roast rava until the aroma starts and turn light brown in color.cool it.This can be done in advance and store in air-tight container.
• Heat oil in a kadai,crackle mustard seeds.Fry chana dal and urad dal until light brown.
• Add green chillies,curry leaves and ginger-garlic paste and fry for half minute.Now add thinly sliced onions and fry until they turn light brown in color.
• Add chopped carrot and fry for a minute.Add finely chopped tomato and cover it and cook until it forms a pulpy mixture.
• Add red chilli powder,haldi and garam masala to it and cook for a minute.Add water to it in the ratio of 1:3 (1- sooji :3-water) and cover it and let it boil.
• Remove the lid and salt and slowly add sooji by continuously stiring it in order to avoid the formation of lumps.Cover it and cook for 2-3 minutes on low flame until sooji is completely cooked.
• Add chopped coriander,lemon juice and grated coconut and give a nice mix.
• Add ghee to it and mix properly.Add more ghee according to your taste.It is completely optional.Adding ghee enhances the taste of upma and it is complete optional.

Serve it hot with coconut chutney,sliced cucumber and some chips.

Note:

• You can even add corn,finely chopped beans,peas to this.
• The amount of water can be reduced to 2 to 21/2 if you want your upma to be bit dry.But adding this amount of water makes the upma soft and tastes like hotel upma.
• Roast the rava properly which yields good non-sticky upma.
• The taste of upma varies according to the amount of oil and ghee used.If you want good taste you have to add more else add less according to your requirement.
• Add lemon after switching off the flame otherwise it will turn slight bitter.Be generous about the amount of lemon juice.
• Add lots of fried cashewnuts to give a special taste.

This again goes to "Show me your breakfast" Event by Divya of Dil se.

and also to "EFM Theme - Breakfast Series" @ Srish Kitchen.Note:

• For a Vegan version use oil instead of ghee for tempering.