Oats Upma

Oats upma

INGREDIENTS:

(measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)
for roasting oats:
1 cup quick cooking oats, 100 grams
½ tsp oil
other ingredients:
¼ cup tightly packed finely chopped onion
¼ cup finely chopped carrots
¼ cup finely chopped french beans
¼ cup green peas/matar, fresh or frozen
7 to 8 curry leaves/kadi patta
1 tsp mustard seeds/rai
1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
1 tsp chana dal/split and husked bengal gram
1 tsp urad dal (optional)
8 to 10 cashews/kaju or peanuts
½ tsp ginger/adrak, finely chopped
1 or 2 green chilies, chopped
1 to 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves/dhania patta
1.25 cups water
1 to 1.5 tbsp ghee or oil
salt as required

INSTRUCTIONS:

roasting oats:
heat ½ tsp oil in a pan. add 1 cup quick cooking oats.
stir and saute on a low flame till the oats become crisp. keep stirring continuously so that the oats do not get browned from the bottom. no need to brown the oats.
remove oats in a plate or tray and keep aside.
tempering and preparing upma:
in the same pan, heat 1 to 1.5 tbsp oil. add 1 tsp mustard seeds. stir and saute till the mustard seeds crackle.
then add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp chana dal, 1 tsp urad dal (optional) and 8 to 10 cashews.
stir and saute till the chana dal gets browned.
add ¼ cup tightly packed finely chopped onions. stir and saute till the onions turn translucent.
next add ½ tsp ginger, finely chopped, 1 or 2 green chilies, chopped and 7 to 8 curry leaves. stir and saute for half a minute.
then add ¼ cup finely chopped carrots, ¼ cup finely chopped french beans and ¼ cup green peas, fresh or frozen. stir and saute for 2 minutes.
then add 1.25 cups water. cover the pan with its lid.
on a medium flame simmer and cook this mixture till the veggies are almost done. about 8 to 9 minutes.
then add the roasted oats. stir lightly.
add salt as required. stir very well.
then cover the pan again with its lid and on a low flame, steam the oats upma for 7 to 8 minutes.
once done, then add 1 to 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves.
stir and serve oats upma drizzled with some lemon or lime juice.