Ragi Semiya Uppuma

 I learned this recipe from my MIL who always stocks up her  pantry with this semiya. Ever since I found out about the existence of such semiya(ragi), It occupies most of the space(not weight ) in my suitcase when I travel away from home. Yes, I buy loads of them and try to make it for breakfast atleast on the alternate weekends(mostly saturdays). It goes very well with tomato chutney or with any coconut based chutney. So if you see these packets in your nearby groceries, when you go shopping next time, get hold of them and try this recipe. You get a good feeling of having something healthy for your breakfast or dinner, I sure did.

 Ingredients:

 Ragi Semiya -  200gm packet.
1 medium onion
2 green chillies
1 medium tomato
4 pods of garlic
1 tsp of lemon juice(optional)

For tempering:

mustard - 1tsp
urad dhal 1 tsp
channa dhal - 1tsp
few curry leaves

Method

Dip the semiya in a large bowl of water for 2 mins. Drain the water completly and place in an idli tray  and steam it for 10 mins.(exactly as we do for Idli's)
Remove to a plate and allow to cool.
Finly chop the onion, green chillies, garlic and tomato
In a wide skillet/pan add 2 tsp of oil and when its hot add the tempering ingredients.
When the mustard splutters add the chopped onion , green chillies and garlic and fry till its cooked well.
Now add the tomatoes and fry till its mushy. Add salt as per taste.
Now add the cooked ragi semiya/vermicelli and stir well till its evenly coated with the masala.
Reduce the flame to low and cook covered for 2 mins.
Add a tsp of lemon juice and mix well (Optional)
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Variations:
We can also make puttu by mixing Sugar, Fresh grated coconut , a pinch of cardomom pwd and a tsp of ghee to the steaming hot Ragi Semiya. Kids especially will love it .

Sending this uppuma to JFI - Ragi hosted by Maduram at Eggless Cooking

And last but not the least , Happy to mention that Cool Lassie of PanGravyKadaiCurry has passed on this Beautiful award to me with some demands.

The rules of the award goes like this:

• 
  
  Copy the award to your blog. 
  
• Thank the person giving the award. 
• Place a link to their blog.  
• Name seven things people don't know about you.  
• Nominate 7 bloggers.  
• Place a link to those bloggers. 
• Leave a comment to those bloggers letting them know about the award.

And coming to the 7 things about me, hmm..lets see how far can I get..

I am a big fan of  Elvis Presley songs and movies :)
I have read Pride and Prejudice more than 10 times ( will continue)
Iam scared to death of getting on a theme park ride. Never tried even a simple "merry -go-round"
Love to collect Fridge Magnets from places I travel.
Like to have some "ME TIME" once in a while.
Like to watch Horror /Thriller movies.
Love Surprises..

uffff...made the list..rather quickly than I expected.
and I like to pass this award  to these wonderful ladies below..

Vaishali Sharma
Meera
Balakrishna Saraswathy
S of ForkBootsAndPallette
RuchikaCooks
SuperChef
Sreelu

Have a nice day.

Kodhumai/Wheat Rava/Cracked wheat Uppuma and Coriander-Peanut Chutney

This is a very simple and filling meal which makes its way in to my kichen atleast once a week. Usually I make this uppuma for dinner whenever I make sambhar for lunch, so that I need not put extra effort for making any chutneys.Sambhar and wheat rava uppuma are a classic combo. But yesterday for a change I made this coriander - peanut chutney to go with this delicious uppuma, which equally tasted good.
Change is always good right..

Wheat Rava Uppuma

Ingredients:

Wheat rava/cracked wheat - 2 cups

water - 4 cups

1 tsp mustard seeds

1tsp urad dhal

1 tsp channa dhal

1 tsp chopped ginger

2 green chillies, slit

1 medium onion chopped

few curry leaves

Method

Dry roast the Rava in a pan without oil i medium flame for atleast 10 mins

(Do not avoid this step , as it reduces the raw smell of the wheat a lot)

Heat a tblsp of oil in a non stick pan/kadai.

Add the tempering ingredients mustard, urad dhal, channa dhal and curry leaves when the oil is hot.

When the mustard pops add the onion , chillies and ginger, fry till onion turns translucent

Now add the water and salt to taste.Close with a lid and allow it to boil.

When the water is boiling, slowly add the wheat rava and stir well. Reduce the flame to medium , close with a tight lid and cook for 10 mins.

Stir well, reduce the flame to very low, close with a lid and cook for another 10 mins.

Coriander peanut chutney:

Ingredients:

1 bunch of coriander leaves

1 handful of mint leaves(optional)

1/2 cup of roasted peanuts

2 green chillies

1/2 tsp tamarind paste

1 garlic pod

Method:

Grind all the above ingredients with the required amount of salt

Make the tempering with mustard , urad dhal, curry leaves and pour over the chutney.

Stir well and serve.

Semiya/Vermicelli Uppuma

This is one of my all time favorite breakfast during schooldays.In those days I would see this uppuma as a savior from my regular breakfast - Idli & coconut chuney. But these days we crave for those Idli's and chutney's...thats totally a different story:)
Anyway this dish, like any other uppuma can be had for breakfast, evening snack, or dinner.
We can also make it interesting by adding all vegetables, spice it up a little bit and turn it into a kichadi. However I like to eat just the simple uppuma with teaspoon of sugar or some pickles to go with it. Unfortunately my husband hates semiya uppuma, the beauty is he loves all other kinds of uppuma even cracked wheat uppuma. So I generally choose to make this dish on the days when I have to make lunch or dinner for just myself.

Ingredients:
1 cup Semiya

1 green chilli
1 medium size onion, sliced thin
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp urad dhal
1 tsp channa dhal
few curry leaves

Method:
Add 1 tsp of oil in a pan and roast the vermicelli to light golden colour. Add 2 tsp of oil in a pan and add the mustard, uraddhal , channadhal and curry leaves. When the mustard pops add the Onions and green chillies and fry till translucent. Now add 1 1/2 cups (one and a half)of water, salt to taste, a pinch of turmeric and cover the pan with a lid. When the water comes to a boil add the roasted vermicelli and cook for few minutes till the water is absorbed.Garnish with few sprigs of cilantro.

Notes: You can also add a pinch of turmeric with the onions just for the colour.

Wheat Rava Kitchadi

Wheat Rava Kichadi.

We usually take light dinner, avoiding high caloric food.
One of the best and simple dish we always opt for is wheat rava upuma.My husband loves upuma of any kind except vermicelli uppuma(I dont know why). So Uppuma is an easy way for me to fix up a dinner quickly.
As a child I used to hate anything made using the wheat rava even sweets made using this like pongal or kesari.But then my taste buds changed after marriage, as we have wheat rava upuma atleast twice a week in my in-laws place. Slowly I started developing a liking to this dish, but not as much as Rava upuma or Rava kichadi.
So today I decided to to kick it up a notch(Emeril's style) by adding lots of vegetable and make it as a kichadi. My Husband loved this dish and it was very wholesome. And you know what its a great way to include broccoli in your diet. I served this with coriander- curry leaves chutney

Ingredients:

Wheat Rava 1 cup.
2 1/2 cup of water. (2 cup for - rava, 1/2 cup for vegetables)
Vegetables - Broccoli 10 spears,
1 Carrot cut in to round slices
1/2 cup peas.
1/2 cup capsicum.
you can add any other vegetables of your choice.
1 medium sixed onion slices thin.
1 medium sized tomato.
1 tsp choopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
3 green chillies sliced verically


for tempering:
1 tsp musard, urad dhal, few curry leaves.

Method:

Fry the wheat rava in a tava until slight brown and keep aside.
In the same fry the brocolli spears in a drop of oil.Just stir them up in high heat for 2 minutes and keep that aside.
Take 2 tsp of oil in kadai/pan add mustard , urad dhal and curry leaves.
After the seeds pop, add the ginger , garlic and green chillies.
Then add the onioins and fry till translucent, now add the tomatoes and fry well.
now add all the vegetables except the broccoli. , a pinch of turmeric and salt. fry well till the vegetables are tender.Now add the water, close the pan and allow it to boil for few minutes.
Now add the whea rava and stil till it mixes well with the water and there are no lumps.
Reduce the heat to low, add the broccoli pieces, close the pan and allow to cook in low heat for 10 mins or till completely cooked. Add chopped Coriander leaves.