Ragi Utthappa…

“Mom, I want to eat dosa”

I opened the fridge and opened the container of dosa batter. I sighed. I would not be able to make even 3 dosas from the batter…

“How about onion utthappa?” I asked her. “Anything will do ma”

Great! I took a small cup of ragi flour, 2 tablespoons of wheat flour added some salt and mixed it into a batter with water. This I mixed with the leftover dosa batter.

I took 2 onions and chopped them finely. I chopped a handful of coriander leaves too. Added both to the mixed batter.

To make it more colourful I added one carrot (grated).

I poured a ladleful of this mixed batter onto the hot griddle (tava). A teaspoon of oil around it and turned it.

Served it with onion and tomato chutney ( will share the recipe next time ) It was very tasty…

Ragi is very good for health and a staple food here in Bengaluru.

Ragi is used to make Ragi ambali ( ganjji) which is a wholesome meal in itself.

You will find most people eating Ragi Mudde ( ragi balls ) with sambar and curry.

Ragi thalippeth (rotti) is also very tasty. (Will post the recipe another time).

Ragi which is considered a farmers delight or a poor man’s food must actually be made into a national millet and must adorn the plates of the rich too…

The benefits of this humble millet are countless and one must use ragi flour on a regular basis as it will only add to our health and at the same time not bring any change in our monthly grocery bill…

 

Bansi Rava Upma

BANSI RAVA UPMA

“Upma?” I asked. “No, thanks,” I said. But my aunt forced me to take some on my plate. And reluctantly I gathered the upma which did look quite good onto the spoon and tucked it into  my mouth. Hmmm… It was tasty.

“Aunty which upma is this?” It was a ridiculous question. Upma is upma and always made with rava/suji.

“The rava is different. I made the upma from Bansi rava” she replied.

“Bansi rava! Which rava is that?” I had heard of rava called suji and barik rava, lapsi rava…. but Bansi rava??

“It is available at all supermarkets. It is written on the packet. You check” my aunt said.

Now that I was going to do for sure, ‘coz the upma was truly tasty.

I went to the supermarket on my way back and purchased a packet of bansi rava.

Now I had three types of rava at home. I took three bowls of each type of rava.

THREE TYPES OF RAVA

 

NORMAL RAVA

LAPSI RAVA

BANSI RAVA

Obviously I made the upma from bansi rava. It is no different from the other upma we make. Yet, this is how I made it:

I dry roasted one big glass of bansi rava on sim gas for 10 minutes.

I then took a big kadai and added two tablespoons of oil. To that I added rai, three green chillies cut into halves, a pinch of hing, few curry leaves.

When all this had spluttered sufficiently I added some mixed chopped vegetables  like potato, onion, beans, carrot, green peas, corn etc. (You can use any mix of vegetables )

I then added some salt to taste and covered the pan to allow the vegetables to cook.

I then kept three glasses of water to boil.

When the vegetables were cooked I added the boiling water to it. Next went the roasted bansi rava which I mixed evenly.

I kept the gas on sim. I covered the kadai and allowed the rava to cook properly in the water.

After five minutes I switched off the gas and garnished the upma with coriander leaves.

(You can add coconut scrapings too)

Well, the bansi rava upma is more nutritious and tasty.

I had never heard of this rava when I stayed in Mumbai or Dubai. First time I heard of this bansi rava in Bengaluru. So, I am not sure that it is available everywhere. Probably it is…

Do check out at the supermarket next time! And let me know in case you find it…

( Rava is made out of wheat. It is wholesome and nutritious. Rava, except idli rava are made out wheat.)

Idli rava is made of rice and used for making idlis. For one glass of soaked udad dal, 2 glasses of idli rava can be soaked. After grinding the udad dal, you can either add the soaked idli rava to the batter and keep for 6 to 8 hours to ferment or you can grind the soaked idli rava for just a few minutes and mix it with the udad dal batter. The difference is you get coarse rava idli or smooth idly.

Using idly rava saves time as grinding soaked rice takes longer. The taste is good too…

 

Bulgur Upma (Lapsi rava upma)

Nutritious breakfast option!

Fast to cook, good to eat...

 

Bulgur or Lapsi upma is very easy to make and I would say takes just a few minutes extra if you compare it with sooji/rava upma. I was tired of both making and eating the rava upma. So then I switched to semia upma and then that too got boring. Then I saw bulgur at the supermarket and I picked it up.

So this  morning I made the lapsi (bulgur) upma. Bulgur is basically cracked wheat but it is semi-cooked and dried and then crumbled. So cooking time is less and the chewy taste is something one will surely relish.

Ingredients:

1 cup bulgur/lapsi

1 big onion chopped

2-3 green chillies slit into two

1/2 inch pc ginger grated

1 1/2 tbspn oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)

1 cup mixed vegetables (chopped carrots, beans, potaotes, green peas, sweet corn)

3 cups water

salt

grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves for garnishing.

Method:

I took a pan and dry roasted 1 cup bulgur lightly for around 5 minutes on slow gas. I kept the roasted bulgur aside in a dish.

I kept the pan again on the gas and added 1 1/2 tbspn oil and some mustard seeds (rai).

I patiently waited until they crackled and then added 1 chopped onion, 2 slit green chillies, 1/2 inch piece grated ginger.

And while the onions turned pink I chopped some mixed vegetables (carrot, beans, potatoes)into small pieces.

I also added some green peas and sweet corn for that added taste. All the vegetables went into the pan along with the onions which had turned sufficiently pink.

I covered the pan and cooked till vegetables were done which took around 10 minutes or so.

I then added 3 cups of water and salt to the pan. After the water started boiling I added the roasted lapsi and stirred it lightly.

I covered the pan and allowed the lapsi to cook on slow gas. After around 8 to 10  minutes it was nicely cooked and done.

And well to make the upma look yummy I sprinkled some grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves.

This is a very healthy breakfast option. It is nutritious and filling. And as we add vegetables to it, it is tastier and surely a treat for those odd days when we are stuck wondering what to prepare.

This upma can be had for breakfast or even for that late dinner when you are feeling lazy to make roti subzi…

It is very easy to prepare and has the wholeness of wheat.

Alternatively one could add all the ingredients in a pressure cooker and cook for one whistle. It would look like bulgur pulav and would still be tasty and also retain its flavour and nutrition.