Arisi Upma

It's amazing how quickly days fly by and before you know it a week is gone, then two and then an entire month slips away in an instant... Things have been way too busy on all fronts.. work and home - it leaves me pretty much no time to relax and get to my hobby of blogging. There has been a fair bit of cooking going on though and i have quite a backlog of recipes and pictures waiting to see the daylight but the one I have picked today screams comfort food to me and is perfect for the rainy days we've been having - it's the classic Arisi Upma. I remember my paati's version ever so clearly... tasty upma, doused liberally with nallennai (sesame oil) and the crispy crunchy bits on the bottom of the pan... so good!

When my mom was here, I asked her to make it quite often and here is her recipe for this tasty upma.

ARISI (RICE) UPMA

Ingredients:
Raw Rice - 1.5 cups
Toor dhal - 1/4 cup
Coconut, grated - 2 tbsp
Red Chillies - 5
Cumin seeds and whole Black pepper - half tsp each, pounded to a coarse powder
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Split Urad dhal - 1/4 tsp
Channa dhal - 1 to 2 tsp
Asafoetida (hing) - a pinch
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:
1) Soak Rice and dhal together for 20 mins, drain and while still moist grind to a coarse powder.

2) In a pot (or the pressure cooker if you prefer that method), heat oil and season with mustard seeds, urad dhal, channa dhal, hing, curry leaves and the 5 red chillies broken into bits.

3) Once the mustard splutters and the dhals are a bit toasted, add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil.

4) Add the coconut and salt at this point and the powdered cumin seeds and pepper powder.

5) Next add the powdered rice and dhal, cover and allow to cook on a low-medium flame till well cooked. If using a pressure cooker, wait for 1 whistle then lower the flame and wait 5 minutes before switching off the stove - your upma is now ready, once the pressure subsides.

However, if you want the crispy bottom part, the stove top method works better.

Enjoy!
Wishing everyone a very happy Navarathri season :)