Back home, we are used to cooking three fresh meals a day. Breakfast would be idli,  dosa, upma etc, lunch will be rice, dal and a vegetable and for dinner roti, or  dosa. After we moved here, we have gotten used to having cereals, oatmeal, bread or smoothie on the  go. From the time, my parents are here, we have been cooking three meals a day. Mom & dad are used to that and we don’t want to change it. So yesterday morning, it was upma. Upma is made with semolina and almost has the texture of polenta when cooked.  Since we were getting late for work, mom taught me how to make this upma without chopping veggies and slicing onions.

Semolina – 1.5 cups

Ghee – 1 T + ½ tsp

Oil – 1 T

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp (optional)

Channa dal/split garbanzo beans – 1 T

Curry leaves – 5 to 6

Dried red chillies – 2 broken into pieces (use the seeds please)

Cashew nuts – 1 T, roughly chopped

Asafetida – 1/8^th tsp

Water – 3 cups

Salt – 1 tsp or to taste

Coconut – 1 T, grated

• Heat 1 T of ghee in a sauté pan and sauté the semolina until it slightly changes color.
• Transfer the semolina to a plate
• Heat oil in the same sauté pan and when the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, curry leaves, chillies, cashew nuts and asafetida.
• When the channa dal starts changing color,  add the water and salt and let it come to a rolling boil
• Slowly stir in the semolina while continuing to stir with the other hand.
• Reduce the heat to medium low. All the water will be absorbed. Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for roughly 3-4 minutes

We enjoyed this for breakfast yesterday. I like to sprinkle some sugar on the top, while my parents like to eat it with Indian pickles.