Carefree Cracked wheat Upma

This was a very common breakfast at my home, simply because it is very easy to prepare , wholesome and very yummy.With some salad and yogurt, can be had at lunch or dinner too.

Upma is usually made with Sooji or Semolina in most parts of India and most are not aware that cracked wheat can be an awesome substitute in this recipe.

Why cracked wheat upma?

Sooji is a refined product and cracked wheat is not

Cracked wheat need not be pre-toasted, this reduces the cooking time considerably

Cracked wheat does not form lumps when you cook…so you can make a Carefree cracked wheat upma!!! absolutely zero concentration required.

Now to the recipe…

Ingredients

Cracked wheat – 1 cup

Water – 2.25 cups

green chillies – 3

red chillies – 3

carrots+peas – 1 cup (if not using veggies reduce the water to 2 cups)

1 mediu onion sliced thin

Mustard seeds – tsp

Channa dal aka broken chickpeas – 1 tsp

chopped ginger – 1 inch piece

Salt

oil – 2 tbsp

Method

Heat a wide thick-bottomed vessel with 2 tablespoons of oil and let it reach smoking point. Now crackle the mustard seeds, fry the channa dal to a light pink, add the chillies , ginger and onions.

Once the onions are translucent add the veggies, saute for a minute, add the 2.25 cups of water, season with salt and close it with a lid. It is important that the water is slightly salty than how you want your upma to be. Once the water starts boiling, add the cracked wheat, give it a stir, close the lid and cook it for a couple of minutes till it is done. Once you feel the upma is done and soft, switch off the stove, close it with the lid and leave it to rest for 5 minutes. This step is very important if you do not want a gooey upma. Enjoy the wholesome upma with some pickle and yogurt or coconut chutney.

Rava kanji with Pachai payaru

Its summer time here in Hyd and Andhra heat is soaring day by day. And you start making calls to your mom, friend’s mom, granny…great granny….in quest of coolants. There are n-number of cool drinks…the unbeatable SI Neer mor( i do not know the eng/hindi name) , NI lassi, panagam, Mango panna, sweet tea with mint and lots more….but then is there some light meal kind of recipe too??

Any lady of the house would die to get such a recipe which would save her from sweating through the cooking ritual during summer.Here is one such recipe apart from the usual Pazhaya sadham (leftover rice) using broken wheat/rava (see pic).

Ingredients:

Broken wheat/Dalia – 1 cup

Water – 2 cups

Pachai payaru/Green moong dal – 1/2 cup soaked in water the previous night

Buttermilk – a pitcher

For seasoning:

Oil, cumin seeds, salt & chilly powder

Method:

 1.Heat the water in a vessel and empty the rava when it star ts boiling, add salt and cook it well till the rava turns soft. If using a microwave, mix the water, rava and salt and cook it for 3-4 minutes. I used the Mayil mark Rava which I bought from coimbatore, but dalia would work fine too

2.Allow it to cool and meamwhile prepare the pachai payaru. Steam the payaru adding little salt and then in a pan heat a spoon of oil , splutter cumin seeds, add the payaru, salt & chilli and cook it for a minute. Thats it

Once the cooked rava cools down mix it with cool buttermilk to soup like consistency and have it with pickle and payaru. Its wholesome and gives a refreshed feeling instantly