Semiya Upma

My amma makes different varities of Upma. Rava upma, Rice upma, Semiya upma, Idli upma, Bread upma, Aval upmal,...... the list goes on. But after marriage I have made only one upma-the common rava upma. Two days back Sree was in the kitchen taking a look inside our pantry. He found a packet of Semiya and asked me "Why don't we make Semiya upma for dinner?" For Rava upma I knew the exact quantity of water to be added but this ? It was a big question mark. I searched in the internet for the recipes and each one gave me different ratio. So I decided to try it with semiya and water in 1:2 ratio. But found that the water was a little more. But the upma turned out to be good.
Now you can try it at home too.

INGREDIENTS:

Serves : 4

1. Semiya/Vermicelli (1 inch long pieces) - 2 cups


2. Ghee - 2 tsp


3. Water - 1 1/2 cups


4. Small onion cut lengthwise - 1


5. Vegetables(beans, carrots, peas) - 1/4 cup of each


6. Ginger paste - 1 tsp


7. Curry leaves - one sprig


8. Green chillies - 2


9. Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp


10. Mustard - 1tsp


11. Urud Dal - 1tsp


12. Red Chilli in small pieces - 1

METHOD:

• Fry Semiya in 1 tsp ghee in medium heat till it takes a light brown colour. Keep that aside.


• Take the other vegetables, sprlinle 2 tbsp water and salt over it. Toss them and microwave uncovered for 1 min. If they are frozen vegetable you have to keep it for some more time.


• In 2tsp oil season mustard, urud dal and red chillies.


• Add onion and saute them till they are light brown in colour. Add ginger paste, green chillies and Curry leaves. Fry for one min.


• Add the microwaved veggies and fry for a minute or two.


• Meanwhile boil the 1 1/2 cup water with salt and put the fried semiya in it. (Before putting semiya check for salt. The salt should be a little more that your correct amount because we are adding salt for the semiya too)


• When the water starts boiling, simmer and allow the semiya to cook. (The water amount will vary for different brands of Semiya. So check often on Semiya. If the water is almost gone and still the Semiya is undercooked, add a little more water. If water is more and the semiya is almost done, increase the heat and when the the water has almost gone, simmer it. Heat a tawa and keep the sauce pan containing semiya on the tawa. In that way, water will evaporate and as there is no direct heat on the sauce pan, semiya wont stick or burn.)


• When Semiya is done, add the onion, vegetable etc and fry for 2 minutes.

Semiya upma ready..........