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!