Upma
Semolina toasted dry, then hydrated with boiling water. Fifteen minutes, and the toasting is what keeps it from turning to paste.
- Prep
- 10m
- Cook
- 20m
- Waiting
- 5m
- Total
- 35m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Easy
Scale
Units
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 3 tbsp | Temper until the mustard seeds pop 3m | Fry until the vegetables soften 8m | Stir the toasted semolina into the aromatics 3m | Add the boiling water in a stream, stirring hard, then cover 6m Boiling water, added slowly while stirring. Cold water gives you lumps. | Cover and rest off the heat 5 minutes, then fluff 5m | |
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| a sprig | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 1/2 cup | ||||||
| 1 cup | Toast in a dry pan until it smells nutty 6m Until it smells like toast and turns barely golden. This is the whole technique. | |||||
| 2 1/2 cups | ||||||
| 1 1/2 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tbsp | ||||||
| a handful | ||||||
-
Temper until the mustard seeds pop
3m- ghee or oil 3 tbsp
- mustard seeds 1 tsp
- urad dal 1 tsp
- chana dal 1 tsp
- curry leaves a sprig
-
Fry until the vegetables soften
8m- from 1 Temper until the mustard seeds pop
- onion 1
- green chillies 2
- ginger 1 tsp
- carrot (optional) 1
- frozen peas (optional) 1/2 cup
-
Toast in a dry pan until it smells nutty
6m- coarse semolina 1 cup
Until it smells like toast and turns barely golden. This is the whole technique.
-
Stir the toasted semolina into the aromatics
3m- from 2 Fry until the vegetables soften
- from 3 Toast in a dry pan until it smells nutty
-
Add the boiling water in a stream, stirring hard, then cover
6m- from 4 Stir the toasted semolina into the aromatics
- boiling water 2 1/2 cups
- salt 1 1/2 tsp
Boiling water, added slowly while stirring. Cold water gives you lumps.
-
Cover and rest off the heat 5 minutes, then fluff
5m- from 5 Add the boiling water in a stream, stirring hard, then cover
- lemon juice 1 tbsp
- coriander leaves a handful
Toasting keeps the grains separate
Dry-toasting semolina gelatinises the starch on the outside of each grain before any water arrives. Those sealed surfaces hydrate without dissolving, so the finished upma is fluffy rather than gluey. Untoasted semolina releases free starch immediately and sets into a solid block.
Notes
- 1 : 2½ semolina to water by volume. Less gives you dry upma; more gives you porridge.
- Boiling water, poured in a thin stream with constant stirring.
- Rest it covered for five minutes off the heat. It finishes absorbing in that time.