Vegetable Upma

Recipe: Vegetable Upma

Vegetable Upma makes a filling, nutritious and healthy breakfast option. I also add some yogurt to make the meal more wholesome. Upma is a popular South Indian breakfast dish made from semolina. To make it protein rich I like to add cooked chickpeas,beans or paneer. Today I am sharing a recipe where besides a mixture of vegetables I have added cooked chickpeas.

Memories

Growing up had no idea what upma was. My mum never made it and it wasn’t a dish you would at the Indian restaurants. My first introduction to this dish was in Vrindavan at the ISKCON temple around 1978/79. We had done a road trip from Ahmedabad to Mussorie with my dad, mum and aunts. A memorable holiday as we stopped at so many different destinations. One of them was Vrindavan. Situated on the west bank of Yamuna River, it is a sacred place for Hindus. This is where Lord Krishna spent his early life.  We reached Vrindavan early in the morning and our driver took us to the Govinda Restaurant in  ISKCON temple for breakfast. We all ordered different dishes. Curiosity got the better of me and I ordered Upma not fully knowing what it is. No I don’t regret ordering it as I loved it.

Vegetables, Kids And Us

To get my kids to enjoy a mixture of veggies when they were young. upma was one of the dishes I would make. But now as adults they call it old peoples meal as they reckon you don’t need to chew much. Hubby and I enjoy it for brunch at least once in two weeks if not more. Back in Mombasa I had to spend time chopping the vegetables as I hardly stored any in the freezer due to power cuts. Here in Magog, it is a different story. I always reach out for the frozen vegetables to make life easier. While the vegetables get cooked in the microwave, I roast the semolina. Within 20 minutes my breakfast or brunch is ready.

Sharing Vegetable Upma Recipe With 2024 Alphabet Challenge Group

Can’t believe we’ve reached letter U. Letter U is not an easy one. Wendy the initiator of this challenge suggested we can post upside down cakes, anything with ugli fruit, or Ukrainian Dish. Then there is Ube, udon noodles, urad dal, upma, uttapam, etc. I opted to redo my very old post on Upma for this challenge. I had first posted the recipe on 20/06/2012 with very bad photos! No wonder I hardly had any visits to that post. This time republishing it with better photos, write up and slight change to the recipe. And I add some vegetable or dairy based protein to it.

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Ingredients Required For Vegetable Upma

Semolina

Also known as sooji, suji or rava. Best to use a little coarse semolina to make upma. It is also sold as Bombay rava. Easily available in all Indian shops and online.

Mixed Vegetables

Here the choice of vegetables to use is up to you. I usually use a mixture of peas, carrot, green beans and corn.  Can use fresh or frozen vegetables. For quicker cooking I prefer to boil or steam the vegetables separately. Most people cook it in when they add water to the semolina. I don’t like doing that as sometimes the peas or green beans remain raw. I use 1 cup of water with ½ tsp salt to boil the vegetables. Don’t throw away the remaining water. Use it to cook the upma.

Cooked Chickpeas

I usually have some cooked chickpeas in the freezer. Sometimes I opt for the canned ones. You can use the white or brown ones. I add them to make the upma protein rich. Can replace the chickpeas with cooked beans, roasted paneer or tofu.

Oil

Sometimes I use a mixture of oil and ghee. Ghee or clarified butter adds a lovely flavour to the upma. Use whatever you like. Use any oil of your choice.

Onion

Peel and chop the onion finely. Use red, white or yellow.

Green Chillis

Add according to your taste. Can mince them to a paste or chop the chillis finely.

Ginger

Peel and grate or mince the ginger into a paste. Usually about 1 inch piece is enough.

Urad Dal

Urad dal is split black grams and without the skin. Easily available in all Indian Stores or online. The dals adds a nice flavour and aroma to the upma.

Mustard Seeds

Also known as rai, sarson ke dane. Adds flavour and some bite to the upma. Easily available in all Indian Stores or online.

Cashew Nuts

Chop them into pieces. I usually cut them into halves. Can replace them with peanuts or almonds.

Raisins

Optional ingredient as some people don’t like cooked raisins. I love them so add it to the upma.

Yogurt

An optional ingredient. I like to add it as it adds a slight tangy flavour to the upma and also adds protein. The yogurt should be plain and thick. Whisk it lightly before adding to the upma.

Curry Leaves

Adds flavour. Use fresh, frozen or dried curry leaves. Also known as kari patta, limbdi.

Cinnamon

I like to add whole spices as they add a subtle flavour. About 1 inch cinnamon stick is fine. Break it into two or three pieces.

Cloves

Need about 3-4 cloves.

Peppercorns

About 6-8 peppercorns are enough.

Asafoetida

An optional ingredient. Not everyone likes the taste of asafoetida or hing.

Salt

Add according to your taste. Remember, you are adding some salt to the vegetables when cooking them. So add salt accordingly to the upma mixture.

Fresh Coriander

Wash and chop coriander finely. Add also the tender stems as they are full of flavour.

Water

About 3 cups of water is required to cook the upma. When the vegetables are cooked,

VEGETABLE UPMA

mayurisjikoni

Vegetable Upma makes a filling, nutritious and healthy breakfast option. I also add some yogurt to make the meal more wholesome. Upma is a popular South Indian breakfast dish made from semolina. To make it protein rich I like to add cooked chickpeas,beans or paneer. Today I am sharing a recipe where besides a mixture of vegetables I have added cooked chickpeas.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, lunchbox, Snack

Cuisine Indian, South Indian

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup coarse semolina
• 3 cups water warm
• 1 cup mixed vegetables cooked
• 1 cup chickpeas cooked
• ½ cup onion
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp white urad dal
• 1 tbsp raisins
• 12-14 cashew nuts cut into halves
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 inch cinnamon stick, cut into smaller pieces
• 6 peppercorns
• 3 cloves
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• ½ cup yogurt plain
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp green chilli paste
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander chopped

Instructions

 

• For mixed vegetables, you can take some peas, diced carrots, diced french beans, corn. Make up 1 cup, and boil or steam them. For a quick meal I boil them in the microwave oven with some water and ½ tsp salt from the measured amount.
• Drain out the water from the cooked vegetables. I use the water for cooking upma. So measure the water using a cup.
• Roast the semolina in a wide pan over medium to low heat. Keep mixing it all the time so that it does not get burnt.
• The semolina is ready when you get the aroma and it appears light pinkish in colour. This takes about 2-3 minutes.
• Remove the roasted semolina into a plate and keep it on the side till required.
• In the same pan heat the oil over medium heat.
• Add the cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns.
• As they begin to sizzle add the mustard seeds, asafoetida, urad dal and the sesame seeds.
• Stir fry till the urad dal turns light brown in colour.
• Add the curry leaves and chopped onion.
• Stir fry the onion till it becomes soft and turns light pink in colour.
• Add the green chilli and ginger pastes. Stir fry for about one minute.
• Add the chopped cashew nuts and raisins. Stir fry for about 30 seconds.
• Add the roasted semolina and mix well.
• Add the cooked mixed vegetables and chickpeas.
• Mix well.
• Add more water to the water in which the vegetables were cooked. Make it up to 3 cups.
• Add the water to the semolina vegetables mixture. Stir the mixture continuously.
• Add the remaining salt.
• Reduce the heat to low setting. Keep stirring the mixture frequently as it becomes hot.
• Whisk the yogurt lightly to make it smooth.
• When the mixture begins to thicken, add the yogurt.
• Keep mixing the upma till it becomes thick and almost comes away from the sides of the pan.
• Add chopped coriander and mix well.
• Serve hot upma. Some prefer it with a chutney or sambar. We enjoy it on its own.

Notes

• Can add boiled peanuts if you wish.
• Can add more vegetables of your choice.
• To make a vegan version omit yogurt.
• Keep roasted semolina in a jar so that whenever you want to make upma, it can be done within 10 minutes.
• Replace the chickpeas with paneer. Roast the paneer separately before adding to the upma.

Keyword upma recipe, vegetable upma