Upma

(This is my contribution to WBB hosted by Trupti and started by Nandita. The theme this month is Spice it up. This is also my contribution for the letter "U" in Nupur's A-Z of Indian vegetables.)

Who doesn't like spicy breakfast? We all do. Be it poha, upma, or omlettes it's good to start the day with some hot and spicy taste. Spicy breakfasts are a good variation from the everyday bowl of cereals and orange juice. With just a little bit of preparation the previous night, you can cook these breakfasts in a jiffy.

There are many variations to how you can make upma. There's the South Indian style of adding urad daal to it. You can also experiment with a lot of vegetables. I remember my best friend's mom used to make the best upma ever. Somehow my friend was never a upma fan, which gave me all the more reason to ask aunty to make upma. God, I still remember the taste of that upma. She used to put cauliflower in it and it tasted awesome.

Here's another simple way of making upma.

Matar Upma

Serves: 4
Prep time: 35 minutes

To make upma:
1.Finely chop 1 medium onion and 4 green chillies. Boil 1/2 cup peas.
2.Heat a pan on medium flame. Add 1 1/2 cup rava/semolina. Fry till the rava turns golden brown. Keep this aside in a plate. Add a pinch of sugar and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder to the rava.
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add 1 tsp mustard seeds and when they splutter add a pinch of asafetida, chopped green chillies, and 10-15 curry leaves. Fry for a minute.
4. Add chopped onion and saute till the onion turns light brown. Next, add the boiled peas, salt to taste, 2 tbsp cashew pieces, and 2 tsp curd. Mix well. Check seasoning.
5. Add 3 cups of water to the above mixture. Basically, you need to add double the amount of water in the rava. Boil this on high heat for 5 minutes.
6. Add the rava; mix and make sure that no lumps are formed. Cook for 5 minutes and serve hot.
Serving suggestions: A little bit of extra effort can go a long way in making a dish presentable. Of course, you can't do this for the early morning breakfast. But if you are serving upma to your guests, try this. Sprinkle some cilantro in a small bowl, add some shredded coconut on top, then add upma. Firmly press the upma. Turn the bowl upside down in your serving dish. Serve with lemon.