Vegetable upma is a South Indian breakfast dish consisting of a thick porridge made from cooked grain, vegetables, spices, and lemon ready in just 15 minutes.
Finely chop the 2 cups of vegetables you selected. Take out the frozen green peas.
Start the upma
Get out the spices you need to start the upma. Place a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add ghee, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and optional urad and chana dal. Stir continuously, until the mustard seeds begin to pop and the dal turns golden brown.
Add to the saucepan
Add the onions, ginger, green chili, and optional curry leaves. Sauté, stirring continuously, for 2-3minutes, until lightly browned.
Add the vegetables and stir well. Add a few tablespoons of water, cover, and cook for 5-10 minutes, until the vegetables are starting to soften.
Add 1 ¾ cup water along with ½ teaspoon salt to season the water. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, then add the roasted semolina slowly, while stirring continuously. This is to avoid lumps. A wooden spoon will work well for this.
Once all the semolina is incorporated, cover, and cook for 5 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Turn off the heat, and let it sit, covered, for another 2 minutes.
Stir in the fresh cilantro and lime or lemon juice. The semolina will be light and fluffy. Taste, and add more salt, lime juice, or cilantro if needed.
Notes
Semolina
The semolina recommended in this recipe is a coarse milling of durum wheat. At an Indian store, you will find Roasted Semolina Upma, or it will be labeled sooji, soji, or suji.A conventional grocery store will sell Cream of Wheat, which is a little finer than what I used. It will also work. You can cook on low for 3 minutes instead of 5. Cream of wheat will not be durum wheat though. Note that cream of wheat is sometimes referred to as farina.
Gluten-free
For gluten-free options, look for Rice Rava at the Indian store.Organic Corn Grits can also work for this recipe, although you might need to adjust the cooking time based on the package instructions.Bob’s Red Mill also sells Creamy Buckwheat Hot Cereal, which would also work.