Nothing to do with mango tree, something to do with salt. This is about Upma, a regular breakfast dish of South Indians. Upma, a simple, easy to make dish was in international news recently for topping a cooking contest in the US. ‘Up’ means salt and ‘mav’ means flour in South India. Upmavu as it is called in Malayalam has an interesting English translation given in a movie by a simpleton to some school children. That is ‘salt mango tree’ as mav also means mango tree in Malayalam. Uppindi, Uppittu, Kharabath, Upeet, Rulanv etc. are other names of upma.
Upma made with Semolina has many variations and is eaten with or without chutney, pickle or sambar. This is highly nutritious and the cook can add ingredients according to his/her choice. The topper upma had mushrooms added to it to cater to global taste and it emerged as the victor glorifying this humble dish. Change with time retaining the traditional recipe catapulted the dish to fame. For those who like to try a hand here is the regular recipe:
Ingredients
- Semolina -1 cup
- Cooking oil -3-4 tbsp
- Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
- Black Gram -1/2 tsp
- Tomato- 1
- Ginger -1/2 tsp, grated
- Green chillies-3-5 med, chopped
- Chopped onions-1 med, chopped
- Salt to taste
- Vegetables – anything such as peas, cauliflower, carrots, capsicum etc.
- Lemon juice, nuts or peanuts- optional
- Dry-roast Semolina until it just begins to turn brown, then keep aside.
- In a large wok heat the cooking oil.
- Add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. Then add, black gram, ginger, green chillies and chopped onions and fry until onion turns slight brown.
- Add vegetables, salt and 2 cups of water, and bring to boil.
- Add the roasted semolina, turn down the heat, and mix quickly to avoid forming lumps.
- The upma is done when the water is absorbed by the flour.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves, nuts and lemon juice.
