Rice flour upma

The very first time I had this when my friend and colleague got this to work. Her family is basically from Andra Pradesh and got settled in Kerala 2 generations back.  And she is very fluent is 3 South Indian languages. I need to admit this.. she was my inspiration to start this blog. I am a great follower of her. Her blog url is http://fusioninside.blogspot.com

I always had a mind set that Telugu cuisine is extremely hot and spicy food and the curries are red in color. But when I got a chance to taste this upma which her mom prepared, I liked it. The procedure sound much simpler. The steps are much similar to making the Idiyappam or Pathiri dough.

After a while I got a chance to prepare this for dinner. The way I prepared is a lengthy process and it is not the same way as she mentioned. According to my friend’s recipe, the seasoning and cooking happens in the same pan. Here I first cooked dough and then seasoned…

You need,

• Roasted Rice flour – 1 cup ( i used the same rice flour which which we use to make pathiri)
• salt to taste
• Water – 1.5 cups
• Coconut Oil – 1 teaspoon

For tempering

• Coconut Oil – 1 tbsp
• Asafoetida (hing) a  pinch
• dry red chilies – 4 to 5
• curry leaves of a string
• mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• urad dal – 1/2 tsp

You have to,

• Boil water, salt in a pan in medium flame.
• When it starts boiling reduce the flame to low and add rice powder little by little .
• Stir it. Keep it on fire till all the water is absorbed by the rice powder.
• Remove from fire. Close and keep it for 5-10 minutes
• Kneed this mix to form a soft dough. Add 1 tsp oil if the dough is sticky. Make tiny balls (marble shaped) and keep aside.

To temper

• Heat oil in a pan in medium flame
• Add hing
• Now add urad dal. After 10 sec add mustard seeds.
• Once it pops up add broken dry red chilli, curry leaves
• Now add the prepared rice balls.
• Mix well. You could break those tiny ball if you desire. It is not mandatory.
• Now close with a lid and leave it for approx 5 minutes.
• Remove from fire and leave it closed for another 5 minutes.
• Serve warm.

Another version of this recipe has buttermilk. Buttermilk and rice flour is mixed well to form a paste and then added to the seasoning. It is stir fried in medium to low flame till it is cooked. It will be thick. With the bottom of a spoon break into tiny crumbs. Buttermilk give a different flavor to this recipe.Yet to try that way

For me it is a simple and quick comfort food … You could eat it as it is or serve with a coconut chutney.

An old pics