Rava Upma

This is a very simple and easy to make tiffin item yet very delicious. Excellent to have it alone or with Chutney or Sambar or Vathal Kuzhambu or Milagu Kuzhambu or any thokku.

Ingredients:

1.       Double Roasted Sooji / Rava : 1 Azhakku (Cup) : Say 250 gms

2.       Salt

3.       Green Chilly: 4 (Big) : Vertically Slit or cut in to tiny pieces (How ever you would prefer)

4.       Gundu Vathal Milagai / Red Chilly: 2 (Medium size)

5.       Onion: 2 (Medium) : Finely Chopped

6.       Carrot: 1 (Big) : Finely grated or chopped in to tiny pieces

7.       Ginger: finely chopped: ½ tsp

8.       Mustard: ½ tsp

9.       Orid dal : 1 tsp

10.   Gram dal: 1 tsp

11.   Asafoedita: a pinch

12.   Curry Leaves: 10 to 15

13.   Coriander leaves: very few

14.   Oil: 3 tbsps

15.   Water

Preparation Procedure:

1.       In a dry kadai, roast the rava in sim flame for 2 to 3 minutes to eliminate the raw smell of rava. Already we are using a double roasted rava and hence 2 to 3 minutes would be sufficient.

2.       Transfer the roasted rava to another container and use this kadai now for preparing the upma.

3.       Add 3 tbsps oil to the kadai and when the oil starts heating up, add mustard.

4.       When mustard starts spluttering, add the following in order one by one while sauting in between for few seconds: Orid dal, gram dal, asafoedita, red chilly, green chilly, ginger, onions.

5.       Once the onions turn golden brown, add the carrots and curry leaves and sauté them lightly.

6.       Now add 2 cups of water (say around 500 ml) to the kadai and allow it to boil.

7.       Add salt now

8.       Now add the roasted rava to the kadai slowly and while adding, make sure that you keep stirring to avoid lumps.

9.       Allow it to cook for around 10 minutes on medium flame.

10.   Once you see that the rava is cooked, make sure to keep sauting the contents so that the upma is loose and not sticky or massy.

Note: You can choose to have this as Kichadi also by making this preparation as a mass adding little more water while cooking and then putting the cooked contents in a cup so that the kichadi takes the shape of the cup. Serve hot with Sambhar and Chutney.