Rava Upuma or Uppittu

This is a South Indian dish eaten as breakfast or 'tiffin'. This in itself is a complete meal and can be prepared very quickly and easily.

Ingredients:

1. Rava or Semolina 1 cup
2. Oil 1 to 1 1/2 table spoons.
3. Mustard seeds 1 t spoon
4. Broken urad dal 1 t spoons
5. Channa dal 1 t spoon
6. Green chillies 4 or 5
7. Ginger 1 small piece
8. Curry leaves 1 or 2
9. Coriander leaves few (optional)
10. Onion 1 medium size
11. Vegetables few beans, 1/2 carrot, 1 small potato, a small bit egg plant, small bit bell pepper, (simla mirch or kodai milagai), few peas
12. Salt to taste
13. Turmeric powder 1/2 t spoon
14. Ghee 1 to 2 tspoon Optional
15. water 2 to 2 1/2 cupts

Method:

Fry the rava in a dry Kadai or iluppa chatti till light brown. 1 t spoon of ghee can be added while frying for additional taste. keep it aside.

Cur the onions, and other vegetables and chillies and ginger into very small bits.

Put the oil in the kadai and add the mustard seeds . Once it splutters add the urad dal and the channa dal when urad dal turns brown add the cut curry leaves and chillies and ginger. Now add the cut onions. fry till light brown and add the other cut vegetables. (all the vegetables need not be used what ever vegetable from the list given is available can be used.) add the salt and the turmeric powder. fry for a little time add the water. Cover it with a lid. Let it boil. Check if the vegetables are cooked. When done, Reduce the flame, and add the rava little by little and keep stirring the mixture with a sturdy spoon. Stir till there is no chunks of rava in between and all the ingredients are mixed evenly. Cover it and keep it for a few minutes. add the coriander leaves and the ghee and switch off the stove. Upuma is ready.

If no vegetable is available , it can be done only with onions. Even if onions are not availabe it can be done with just green chillies and rava which incidentally was known as 'grahana upuma' in our house, as it is very easy and fast to prepare this and we were supposed to fast during the eclipse (grahana) and eat any food only after taking bath after the eclipse is over. So our mom used to prepare this quickly and it used to taste so good after fasting for few hours!

PEERKANGAI THUVAYAL (CHUTNEY)

This is a dish which is exclusive. This is prepared with Ribbed Gourd which is called Peerkangai in Tamil and Tori in Hindi and Heerekkai in kannada. This is eaten mixed with rice and is a very tasty dish which my children love.
Ingredients.

1. Peerkangai one if big or two if small
2. Grated coconut 2 to 3 table spoons
3. Urad dal 1 to 2 table spoons
4. Channa dal 1 t spoon (optional)
5. Red chillies 2
6. Mustard seeds 1/2 t spoon
7. Asafotida a small quantity
8. Coriander leaves 1/2 bunch or a hand ful (cut ones)
9. Green chillies 1
10. Tamarind if paste a little less than quarter t spoon , other wise a small bit
11. Salt to taste
12. Little oil for frying the dals

Method:

Scrap the outer surface of the 'peerkangai' slightly and cut them into small pieces.

Take a kadai or illuppa chatti . Put a t spoon of cooking oil. Add the mustard seeds and red chillies once it starts spluttering, add the urad dal and channa dal.

When urad dal turns slight brown add asafotida powder , half the salt. remove from the Kadai and put it in the mixer.

Now in the same kadai put the cut peerkangai( don't add any water just add cut and washed peerkangai) and also the green chilli and cover it with a lid. when it is cooked (it will get cooked very quickly) add some salt (the other half) and the coriander leaves and switch off the stove and let it cool. There will be some water left by the cooked vegetable in the kadai which can be used to grind the thuvayal.

Meanwhile grind the fried ingredients (dal and the redchillies) and add the grated coconut and the tamarind paste (or tamarind).

Drain the water from the cooked vegetable and keep it separate. Now add the cooked vegetable and coriander leaves which is in it to the already ground dal and coconut and grind to a paste. Add the drained water if necessary and grind again till you get the right thuvayal consistency. The dish is ready.

If you prepare this dish in the morning, keep it in the fridge for re use later in the evening. When ever you re use it do not heat it in microwave or anyother way as the possiblility of the dish going bad while reheating are very high. So use very hot cooked rice to mix with the thuvayal when you re use.