Upma
A cozy South Indian semolina dish, savory and fluffy, with sweet vegetables, ginger, green chile and toasted cashews.
- 30 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $2.20 a serving
- 560 calories
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 cup semolina flour, coarse if you can find it
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 2 tbsp cashews
- 1 yellow onion, small, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 serrano pepper, minced
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
From your pantry
- 2½ cups water
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
Each serving has about 560 calories, 16 g protein, 84 g carbs and 18 g fat, and costs about $2.20 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No ghee? Butter works.
- No cashews? Almonds work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No frozen mixed vegetables? Frozen peas or frozen corn or frozen green beans work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Toast the semolina in a large dry over medium 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until it smells nutty and looks a shade darker. Tip it onto a plate.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: You want pale gold, not brown. Toasting keeps the grains separate and fluffy later.Bring the water to a in a or kettle and keep it hot.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
the ghee in the skillet over medium and fry the cashews 1 to 2 minutes, until . Add the onion, ginger and serrano and cook 4 minutes, until soft.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Add the frozen vegetables and cook 3 minutes, stirring.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Pour in the hot water with the salt and sugar and bring it back to a .
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Medium-high heat
Turn the heat to low. Sprinkle in the semolina slowly with one hand while you stir with the other, and keep stirring 1 to 2 minutes, until it .
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Low heatTimer: 1 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Go slowly. Dumped in all at once, semolina clumps into little lumps that never cook through.Cover and cook on low 2 minutes, then take it off the heat and let it sit 2 minutes more.
Low heatTimer: 4 min
Fluff it with a fork, squeeze the lemon over, scatter the cilantro, and serve hot.
Dolly’s tip: Upma firms up as it cools, so eat it hot. Leftovers loosen with a splash of hot water.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
