Saturday, February 7, 2009

Rava Upma

What do I say about this.... the very first rava upma I made was for Vembu thatha (mom's dad)... when I was 10 yrs old... He was really kind enough to appreciate my efforts ... he told mom... "Enna nanna upma pannirku paaren... thuli kooda ennaiye vidaama...." (She made some real good upma... without using any oil).... hahahaha....and made me feel so proud... Little did I realise ... upma tastes really good only when you add oil....

It has taken me this long to master this recipe... now Mr.B proudly proclaims... that I make the best rava upma ;).... better than his granma, his mom or even my mom.... My bro, mom, dad, MIL & FIL also second this ... hehehehehe...


What I used
1 cup of rava
2 - 3 cups of water
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 green chilli (chopped)
1 inch cube ginger (finely chopped)
1 tsp of mustard seeds
1tsp of channa dal
1 tsp of urad dal
curry leaves
2 - 3 tbsp of oil
salt to taste.

How I made It
In a non-stick pan, dry roast the rava place it aside. In the same pan, add 1 tbsp of oil and add mustard, once the splutter, add the dal, onions, curry leaves, chillies and ginger. Saute this until the onions are transparent. Add the rava and roast this for another 3 - 4 minutes. Boil 3 cups of water seperately. Add this boinling water to the roasted rava mixture and keep stirring. This will help avoid lump formation. Add another tbsp of oil & salt and mix well. Leave this on low flame to cook for 10 minutes. Once the rava is cooked, add another tbsp of oil & increase the heat to medium high. This will help to raost the bottom layer. Serve hot with some chutney or just sugar.

Tricks:
You will be roasting the rava 2 times, this will avoid getting lumpy or sticky upma.
This recipe calls in for a little extra oil... but believe me it will taste heavenly :)

Add 2 cups of water intially, then add little by little when the rava cooks. Do not add too much of water as it may become sticky and runny.

Goms paati used to
garnish the upma with grated coconut instead of using onions... and top it with 1/2 tsp of coconut oil... this taste toooooooo good too.

Amma also adds tsp of turmeric, 1 cup of chopped vegetables (potato, carrot, grean peas, tomato)... and this makes yummy kichdi... Serve this hot with cocounut chutney....

4 comments:

  1. True, that's what we call Kichdi, but there are different interpretations of Kichdi in other customs. My grandma adds a tiny tinge of lemon in the end and that tastes really good! Alternately, I sometimes use one measure of thin milk and one measure of water. The extra oil and a dollop of ghee in the end - heaven! But so criminal. Lol

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  2. Hei Rums... I just cudnt stop... Tanjavur, Tanjavur, Tanjavur.... my mom adds that lil lemon as well... hahahaha... I have tried Kesari with milk... but not in Upma... must try it some day...

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  3. LOL! Upma turns out rich and nice with the milk. I'm sure you can imagine the consistency and flavour. Plus, it stays pristine white unless you add tomatoes. I noticed you don't add it as well. I don't. I know a lot of people who do and they skip the lemon bit. But I guess since we don't add the tomatoes, the tiny bit of lemon makes the difference. Try it with milk, it takes a little longer to begin boiling, but the end result is great.

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  4. Could you please let me know, what is the exact english word for "Rava"?
    Also I thank you for creating such a useful cooking blog which makes lives easy for people who are new to cooking like myself!!


    Thanks,
    Sudharshan

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