Masala Upma

If there is one dish that I wish to eat at any time of the day, it is Upma. I was not a big fan of it before but it has become my favourite dish from the moment I tasted it in SN refreshments.
I have tried to prepare it that way but not succeeded yet. I will keep trying anyway and will post it once I get it right.

Here is the thing about this upma recipe. This one does not taste like the normal plain upma at all. Many people hate upma so I want to turn them and I am sure this awesome recipe will impress those upma haters too.

Do try this recipe and let me know if I was able to turn you into an upma fan like me!! :P :)

Nutritional Information  (Approx)
(per serving)
Energy	260		Calories
Fat	5		%
Carbohydrate	16		%
Dietary Fiber	15		%
Sodium	7		%
Vitamin A	11		%
Vitamin C	8		%
Calcium	2		%
Iron	17		%
Protein	8.8		Grams
Sugar	1.5		Grams

Ingredients
Sooji/Rawa (Semolina)	1 cup
Onion chopped	1
Ginger garlic paste	1 tsp
Green chillies chopped	2
chilli powder	1 tsp
Garam masala powder	1/2 tsp
Turmeric	a pinch
Lemon juice	1 tsp
Water	2 cups
Salt	to taste
Coriander leaves chopped	for garnish

To Temper Oil  1 &1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp Bay Leaf 1

In a pan, add 1/2 tbsp of oil and wait till it gets hot. Add Rava and roast till a sweet aroma starts filling up and the colour of rava turns slightly brown. Keep the roasted rava aside.

In the same pan, add the rest of the oil  and the ingredients listed under "To Temper" and fry for 2 minutes. Add onion, Ginger garlic paste and green chillies and fry till it gets transparent.

Add water.

Add salt, chilli powder, rasam powder and lemon juice and mix.

Bring the mixture to boil.

Simmer the flame and sprinkle Rava as you stir it slowly.

Close the lid and cook for 10 - 15 minutes under low flame. 

Stir every 3 minutes so that it will not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Serve hot with coconut chutney or just coffee.

• You can also add Urad dal and chana dal if you like it the plain upma way.
• You can use any kind of Rava.
• If you like it more spicy, you can add green chillies or increase the quantity of chilli powder.
• Also, you can add any other veggies if you want like carrot, capsicum, peas or beans

Soya chunks masala

When I saw soya chunks for the first time, I was reluctant to taste it because of it's chicken like looks. My friends even said that it kinda tasted like meat.

I always look for benefits in food before I eat so I googled about soya chunks and got to know from Wikipedia that it has protein content equal to that of meat.

I was on my weight loss regime so I quickly added this to my diet list. It is easy to cook, tasty to eat and if you are a vegetarian, you can get a lot of protein from this low calorie, versatile ingredient.

This is the first recipe I tried on my own and I like it this way very much. I hope you like it too! :)

Nutritional Information  (Approx)
(per serving)
Energy	114		Calories
Fat	5		%
Carbohydrate	5		%
Dietary Fiber	9		%
Sodium	4		%
Vitamin A	23		%
Vitamin C	13		%
Calcium	2		%
Iron	6		%
Protein	6.2		Grams
Sugar	1.7		Grams

Ingredients
Soya chunks(Small even sized)	1 cup
Onion chopped	1
Tomatoes chopped	2
Salt	to taste
Sambar powder	1 tsp
Chilli powder	1/2 tsp
Turmeric	a pinch
Water	1/2 cup

To Temper
Oil	2 tsps
Mustard seeds	1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds	1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds	1/4 tsp

Boil a pot of water with little salt. Add Soya chunks to the boiling water, cook until soya chunks are soft and drain the water.

Wash the cooked soya chunks, squeeze the water out of it and keep it aside.

In a pan, add oil and wait till it gets hot. Add the ingredients listed under "To Temper" and fry for 2 minutes. Add onion and fry till it gets transparent.

Add chopped tomatoes, turmeric and water and cook it with closed lid.  Once the tomatoes are cooked and soft, add Sambar powder, Chilli powder and salt. Boil the mixture and add soya chunks.

Fry for few minutes and serve hot. It can be served with hot Rotis or rice.

You can add ginger garlic paste and garam masala for stronger flavour.