Lets Begin with a Favourite …

Hello … Welcome to Food Works. I am a huge food blogging fan. Uptil now my online presence in the Food Blog was really minimal. After having seen a couple of worthy blogs, I realized I do know a few things myself. I wish to start with a childhood favourite – Mixed Vegetables with Semolina Soup (Upma Soup for the Indian population).

Yes, you got that right. It is my dear amma’s favourite too because with just one dish, both me and my sis (who are like chalk and cheese when it comes to food) would be happy at the same time. Its nothing elaborate though. All the basic upma ingredients plus a little more water than usually required.

1/2 cup semolina (sooji rava)

1 small onion sliced

1 small potato cubed

3 baby carrots cubed (or a 1/2 medium sized carrot)

1/4 cup green peas

slit green chillies according to your taste ( I used 5, we like it hot!)

red chillies, again you decide.

1 inch ginger thinly sliced

a sprig of fresh curry leaves

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp urad dal

1/2 tsp channa (if you like crunchies, it would be a great idea to add more of these)

1 tsp oil ( I use my non stick, so this amount works for me)

3 cups water (yes, I know what I am doing!)

salt as you like

Now to get started.

Heat oil. Toss in mustard, urad dal and channa dal. Wait for the popping, then throw in ginger, all the chillies  and curry leaves. Fry it for a bit on low flame. I like the curry leaves crunchy. Okay, next we move on to adding onions and waiting for it to turn translucent. Be careful here, because if you make it brown then it becomes bitter. Now, add the peas, carrots, potatoes, fry for few minutes, Add the water (yes, 3 cups … how else do you make a upma soup?) Allow the water to come to a boil. After ensuring the veggies are cooked, slowly stir in the semolina into the boiling water. Turn the heat/fire low, cover and let it cook for a  couple minutes. Once done, take it off the cooktop, else it will dry out. You may want to garnish with coriander leaves and fried cashews for a more luxxurious taste.

There you go, the lovely Upma Soup. A fantastic comfort food which is packed with all things good and nice. A quick snack for those rainy days when all you want to do is look out of the window while eating something hot and spicy. Cheers!

UPDATE

I am being bullied by my sis into disclosing the fact that the whole soup concept of Upma was hers. She claims she suggested this idea to amma. If you believe a 3 year old can think of such innovations, more power to you.

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