Vegetable upma with some grated cauliflower, is a delicious and healthy twist to a quick and easy savory Indian porridge. Better nutrition but with the same mouth watering and comforting taste. And we have you covered with lots of tips and tricks for making this popular Indian dish.
Steam the chopped cauliflower for 10 minutes. Then, process it until it acquires a fine rice like texture.
Place the processed cauliflower in a clean cheese cloth or kitchen towel and squeeze out the moisture as well as you can.
The mixture should be very dry. It should be about 1½ cups in quantity.
Make sure that the vegetables are all finely chopped.
Roast the semolina (rava) in a skillet over low medium heat, stirring often and until light brown and fragrant, 5 to 6 minutes. Let it cool.
In a large and wide sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil at medium setting. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and chana dal.
When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the peanuts and cashews. Sauté few minutes until the nuts turn light brown. Add the curry leaves, ginger and stir two minutes until fragrant.
Then add the onions. Sauté until softened and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add chopped peppers and stir for a minute. Then add the mushrooms, carrots (or tomatoes), green peas (or beans) and cook few minutes until slightly tender.
Add water and salt. Make sure that the water tastes slightly salty. Bring it all to a rolling boil.
Then reduce the heat to low medium. Slowly and gradually pour the roasted semolina/rava, while stirring continuously with the other hand. This will ensure that the rava is incorporated well and with no lumps. Stir well and break up any lumps formed.
When the mixture starts to bubble, add the processed cauliflower, coconut milk, cilantro and stir it well.
Lower the heat, place the lid and simmer until all the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Mix in the lemon juice. Turn off the heat.
Serve this healthy vegetable upma hot with hemp seed or walnut chutney.
Notes
Semolina: Use fine semolina, also known as Bombay rava, sooji, or suji. Do not use idli rava. You can try pre-roasted semolina. Cream of wheat available in USA may be used, but it will not be exactly like the semolina of Indian brands.
Semolina/Rava Substitute: Oats, roasted vermicelli, poha (Indian rice flakes), toasted or plain bread torn into pieces or bulgur wheat are some options to try instead.
Healthier Options: Try bulgur wheat, oats or whole grain bread as mentioned above.
Curry Leaves: Check out this mirchi ka salan blog post to learn how to dry curry leaves perfectly to have it available year round.
Make Ahead: Roast semolina and store in an airtight container for some weeks. Process cauliflower up to 3 days before. Prep and chop vegetables couple days ahead.
Storage: Upma tastes best when it is fresh. But leftovers may be refrigerated for 3 to 4 days. Sprinkle some water and reheat on stove top or in microwave.
Freeze: Cool cooked upma to room temperature and pack individual portions in airtight containers or small freezer safe bags. Thaw frozen upma to room temperature and reheat as above.
Check the scaling feature in the recipe card above to adjust the amount of upma you want to make.
Tomato upma, coconut upma, other variations and tips are in the blog post above.
All products are available at Indian grocery stores. Dry goods are also available online.