VEGETABLE UPMA

Everybody is becoming very health concious. Gone are those days when people, especially Indian people load their phulkas with a dollop of ghee (clarified butter). Also gone are the days when Sunday breakfast meant - stuffed aloo, gobhi, mooli, paneer etc etc parathas, first fried in ghee and then topped with maa ka pyar (mother's love) i.e, a dollop of big butter!! and the lunches meant Chole Bhature, and the dinner meant daal chawal...... Times have changed and people are seriously moving onto healthy options for breakfast, lunch and dinner, thought all the above things that I mentioned still remain a favourite amongst homes.

Honestly I am not one of those people who counts each bite that I put into my mouth. When it comes to food, I really dont like to think about the calories. I just love to enjoy the taste irrespective of the amount of cals its adding onto my already sooooo overloaded existence !!!

But my DH sure is a person who likes to count his calories. So I have to think about various options for his breakfast. Vegetable Upma happens to be a good choice that I make which keeps both him and me happy. Quick to make and delicious too, and not to mention healthy too.)

Ingredients
1 cup - semolina / rawa / sooji
1/2 cup - chopped vegetables (carrots, beans, corn, peas)
2 tbspn - peanuts
1 tspn - mustard seeds / sarson a few sprigs - curry leaves
1 tspn - sugar
1 tspn - salt (pls adjust this to taste)
1/2 inch ginger - grated
1 green chilli - chopped fine
1 onion - chopped fine

Recipe

First and foremost roast the semolina without oil in a wok Roast till it starts giving a nice warm smell
Remove it into a dish In the same wok add about a tbspn of oil and fry the peanuts
Remove the peanuts and keep them separately
Now the oil is hot add the mustard seeds and wait till they stop spattering Pls remember that the oil should be hot
Now add the chopped ginger and fry well
Add the onions and fry till pinkish brown
Now add the curry leaves and green chillies (I avoid green chillies for my LO)
When this is done add 2 1/2 cup of water and let the water come to a boil
Meanwhile put all the veggies in a microwave safe bowl and boil them for about 5-7 minutes, or till they are cooked and tender Strain them
To the boiling water add the salt and sugar (yes I learnt to add sugar from my mom, and blv me it enhances the taste of the upma)
Now add the veggies
Slowly add the roasted semolina and keep stirring with one hand
Cook till the semolina is cooked and all the water has dried up

We used be served this with sugar sprinkled on top most of the time, and I love it, and so does my LO. My husband loves it with some sweet jam.