Vegan Savoury Upma Recipe

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What started from a substitute for another ingredient on my shopping delivery has transpired into an enjoyable recipe idea. It is for vegan (savoury) upma - a South Indian breakfast specialty. I used the semolina with a Coles grocery order to substitute for chickpea flour rather hastily, and as a result, I researched uses for semolina. I noticed upma was a recipe for semolina and tried to make a fun and simple dish, and in my opinion, an authentic dish easy enough for Indian cooking novices like me to have a go. Hence, what follows is a vegan upma recipe, some images and tips on how to make a very basic rendition, and some ideas on how to make a slightly more complicated version.

This linked upma recipe is near top of Google Search and based on my experience and attempt to cook the dish, made much sense to me. I also in my recipe, like in the linked recipe, used a 3:1 water to semolina ratio and added the semolina to the boiling water and vegetable broth. However, I used rice bran oil instead of ghee to make it vegan. I should say I don't use much butter at all in my pantry, so while adding ghee was possible, it wouldn't be vegan and wouldn't get much use in other dishes for health reasons. Adding ghee is done on top of the upma and can significantly enhance the flavour of the dish and thus is highly recommended if wanting a vegetarian version with more flavour.

There are many languages spoken in the Indian Subcontinent , so the word for semolina in online recipes can vary with the word rava as well as sooji being the most used based on my research . If you see either of those two words the author is referring to the semolina, which incidentally could be sold already (double) roasted. If sold that way, then pan roasting your semolina is an unnecessary step, but do check the packaging for information or online sources dependent on the brand.

Ingredients for my basic vegan version (serves one):

A drizzle of rice bran oil
One and a half cups of water (a cup in this recipe is 250 millilitres)
Half a cup of wheat semolina powder (such as Maharajah's Choice )
A third of a cup of frozen peas (preferably defrosted and chopped)
A quarter of a cup of a mixture of chopped onion and red capsicum
A teaspoon of ginger powder or finely chopped fresh ginger
A teaspoon of salt with the option of adding a little more to taste

Method

1. Drizzle the rice bran oil in the small saucepan, add vegetables, ginger and salt and fry on medium heat. Also (as seen in the image below), add all the water and bring to a slight boil, but not too intensive or the water content will start to evaporate.



2. Roast the semolina in a separate fry pan. Use medium heat, stirring frequently, until a hint of the mixture turns light brown. Once you detect a colour change, or alternatively, the aroma of the pan-roasted semolina changes to a nutty aroma, reduce the or remove from heat.



3. Add the semolina to the slightly boiling water. I would try to do that fast. As you can see, I have pushed the semolina to the edge of the frypan so it can pour in easily. Once in, be ready to stir fast, ensuring it is thoroughly mixed in. You will need to boil it with the lid on (for this quantity 2-3 minutes, and that should help the semolina absorb the water, cook further, and bloom). If I could be a bit self-critical, in these images, the semolina only cooked for half the recommended time, but safe to say regardless, cover the mixture with a lid while it cooks, as it reminds me of a hot mud geyser.





4. Then serve—it's possible to garnish or present or simply just serve in a cup or bowl and munch away. It is a quite delightful dish, I could never understand if I liked it outright or if I just liked it as such a new taste. While claimed to be healthy, upma is moreish and carbohydrate-rich, so there are ways it can be unhealthy.

There are many creative ways to present the dish; I tried using a cup and turning out on a plate with an impromptu garnish with a little extra drizzle of rice bran oil. Some blog authors even try to make a face on the upma with vegetables such as carrots (sliced). On that note, most recipes found online are more complicated than mine. Although I feel my recipe could be milder, so no or less ginger, as the ginger and wheat combining can be unfortunate for heartburn. Overall, my recipe is very cautious but nice and easy for beginners. To make the recipe more complicated, more vegetables and legumes can be added. Lentils, urad dal, coriander, potato, tomatoes, chillies, beans, carrots, mustard seed, and ghee are some very popular additions along with curry leaves to the upma. Yellow spices like turmeric might spoil the appearance of the upma, but could add extra taste.

The recipe linked at the start of my article is highly recommended based on my reading of many upma recipes. This is because it utilised a variety of ingredients, has tips for adding and mixing the semolina which I can really relate to based on my experience at cooking the dish, and even the overall approach is very authentic and enthusiastic. However, in case you do want just a concept of making the dish with minimal ingredients to some usefulness and tastiness, then my recipe is 'suitable inspiration'. A final tip is chopping the frozen peas requires them to be defrosted first, even in a microwave or with hot water, but they really made the dish. My reasoning is that when chopped, it distributes the flavour of the peas better, releases extra flavour, and visually presents the peas in the upma better. Amazing how that little extra effort goes the extra mile.

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