I was out of ideas on what to cook for breakfast this morning. I happened to recall the delectable Oats Upma that my father had prepared when he last visited us. My dad loves feeding people. He will go out of the way to cook something special for his loved ones and I’m glad I’ve inherited those qualities from him.
Oats upma is healthy, nutritious and easy to make. It takes less than 30 minutes to cook it. Loaded with veggies and packed with a lot of goodness, this is the perfect dish to kickstart your day!
⏱️ Preparation time: 10 minutes
🥘 Cooking time: 15 minutes
⏳ Total duration: 25 minutes
Type of meal: Breakfast / Snacks
Cuisine: South Indian / Indian
🍽️ Serves 2 persons
Ingredients:
- Rolled oats: 1 cup
- Onion: 1/4 cup (finely chopped)
- Carrot: 1/4 cup (chopped)
- Beans: 1/4 cup (chopped)
- Capsicum: 1/4 cup (chopped)
- Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
- Split black gram (urad dal): 2 tsp
- Split bengal gram (chana dal): 2 tsp
- Curry leaves: 1 sprig (about 7 to 8 leaves)
- Green chilli: 2 (chopped)
- Ginger: 1 bulb (finely chopped)
- Salt as per taste
- Curd: 1 tbsp
- Coriander leaves: handful (finely chopped)
- Ghee (clarified butter): 1 tbsp
- Water: 2 -3 cups
Instructions:
- In a saucepan, kept on low flame, add 1 tsp oil. When the oil becomes hot, add 1 tsp of mustard seeds. Once the seeds sputter, add 2 tsp each of split black gram and split bengal gram. Also, add the curry leaves, chopped green chilli and ginger. Stir it till the split black gram turns golden.
- Now, add the chopped onion and saute till it turns pink. Add the chopped veggies, salt and pour 1 cup of water, and let it cook for about 5 – 7 minutes.
- In the meantime, in another saucepan, dry roast 1 cup of rolled oats for about 2-3 minutes on medium to low heat. Keep stirring so that the oats does not burn.
- The veggies would have almost cooked by now. Taste the beans and carrot to check if they are soft.
- Add the roasted oats, 1 cup of water, salt (if required) and mix well. Cook the oats with the veggies for about 2 – 3 minutes.
- Cook it till the oats become soft and absorbs all the water.
- When the upma is almost ready, add 1 tbsp of curd (optional) and stir well. Curd give the upma a slight sour taste. Alternatively, you may add tomato along with the other veggies if you do not wish to add curd.
- Once the upma is cooked, add 1 tbsp ghee and mix well. Adding ghee makes the upma flavourful.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it hot with coconut chutney / tomato chutney or any pickle of your choice.
Bon Appetit!
