Thursday, January 31, 2013

Upma(Uppumaavu/Uppittu)

There was a joke based on Krishna Chant by some Kannada pandit who was tired of eating uppittu which goes like this:
"Uppitto uppittu Govinda
Uppittu Garudadhwaja
Uppittu Kamalakantha
Trilokyam Mangalam kuru!"


Upma, Uppumaavu or uppittu is a breakfast snack that is world famous. You go to any South Indian Restaurant and you will find this on the menu. If properly prepared, this is one of the most addictive snack ever! At GSB wedding breakfast, this is mostly seen as one of the most preferred snacks.

I remember a Bank colleague who used to call this 'Rukma"! Poor chap strongly believed that it is indeed Rukma and not Upma as we call it! When we had occasional tea party in the Bank, he used to order from Taj Mahal. Whatever snack we may suggest, he never failed to order his favourite Rukma... oops Upma!

I got the authentic recipe from a restaurant in Bunder Mangalore. The kindhearted partner of that restaurant passed on the recipe to me. He told me orally, how to prepare it and I just memorised what he said. We tried making this at home, first in the year 1992 and succeeded in getting the exact taste as we got in Taj Mahal, Rama Bhavan and other major restaurants. Some restaurants add grated coconut, chopped onions and chopped ginger in uppumav but we like it plain.

Ingredients:
Bombay Rava - 2 Cups
Mustrad seeds - 1 Tsp
Urad Daal - 1 Tsp
Cashew bits - A handful(Optional)
Curry leaves - 1 Sprig
Green chillies - 2-3 chopped
Ghee or oil - 4 Tsp
Sugar - 1 Tsp
Salt - To taste
Coriander Leaves - A handful chopped(Optional)

Method:
Boil 6 cups of water and keep it simmering.
Heat oil and add mustard seeds. Allow them to splutter.
Add urad daal and and cashew bits fry till golden.
Add curry leaves and green chilies and fry till green chillies are slightly whitish and dry.
Now add the the rava and roast on medium fire till aromatic.
Add salt and sugar  and slowly add the boiling water while mixing the ingredients carefully.
Take care not to stand too close to the kadai, since the boiling water tends to spurt the hot mixture out of the kadai)
Allow to cook on medium flame till the rava is cooked and starts to expand.
Mix gently, remove from flame, garnish with optional chopped coriander leaves and keep aside for 5 mins.
Mix well and serve with coconut chutney or any namkeen of your choice.



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