Tuesday

Soy Semiya Upma

It is funny that what we at times disliked as kids..tend to change. I used to hate..yes hate upma..it used to make me so mad when my mother made it..but my sister was overjoyed as it is her favorite. I would eat bread and jam but would not touch it. Then we were invited by my singing teacher to her grahapravesam and for breakfast they served us ...upma!..horrers!! i was forced to eat it then and i fell in love with it. I think my mom was a bit insulted..but quickly got over it..and honestly for a whole yr, no i am not kidding..i had upma after school!! semia and rava..so much so that my mom stopped eating upma for a while..as she was sick of making it!

I have been trying to eat healthy and knowing my success rate from the past i have decided i am not going on a restrictive diet..instead modify it and add healthy elements to what i make..so when i decided to make my fav. semia upma..i have tried to give it a healthy boost by adding soy-granules. If you are like me and not a huge fan of soy-chunks (should i be saying this ;)..(but now i am slowly changing and not turning my face when i taste one :D.)...you will still like soy-granules..as it completely blends with the dish and you will not even get to taste it. So here is the recipe...



Ingredients:

Semia - 1 cup (roasted, you get this pre-roasted in the store)
Soy granules - 1/3 cup
Water - 2 1/2 cups ( you have to adjust accordingly, this is just a guesstimate)
Vegetables - 1 cup, diced(used carrots,peas and green beans)
Onion - 1 medium (yes, it is a veggie..but deserves a separate entry ;)
Green Chilly - 2 , slit
Ginger - a small knob,diced
Oil - 2 tsp.
Ghee - 1 tsp.
Curry leaves - few, torn by hand.
Mustard seeds,Urad dal and Chana dal - 1 tsp. each.
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Add oil in a pan and add mustard seeds in it. When it splutters, add the urad and chana dal to it. Meanwhile soak the soy granules in warm water and keep aside.

2. When the dals change color, add in the onions with 1/4 tsp. of salt and saute till the onions get soft, but do not burn. (i add the salt with the onions, as we are using very little oil and the salt draws out the moisture from the onions and makes it go longer in the pan without burning)

3. Add the veggies when the onions are soft, add some more salt, turmeric powder and 1/2 cup of water and cook on medium-low till the veggies are soft.

4. Test the veggies to make sure that they are cooked then...add the remaining water, salt to taste, curry leaves and let the water come to a good boil. Then lower the flame, add in the say-granules( squeeze the water out) and the semia and cook it in medium flame till the semia plumps. The soy takes no time to cook..as they are really tiny and soaked very well.

5. When the consistency is thick..but no too thick, as moisture keeps getting absorbed, add the ghee to the semia and give it a final stir and switch off the gas.

6. You can eat with hot or cool it in the fridge and eat with with yogurt and pickle. I ate mine with tomato chutney.

Notes:

1. To add more protein content, i have also used edamame in the past in place of peas.

2. I think the final tsp. of ghee adds a lot to the aroma of the dish.

3. If you love chunks,you can easily add it in place of granules.

This is my submission to WBB- Soy and currently hosted by moi :)

26 comments:

TBC said...

I haven't tried making semiya upma yet but I did make rava upma over the weekend. I'm still not too crazy about upmas or soy. :-)
I try and sneak soya granules into a meal... usually veg rice types.

And what is this u are saying?...u sang?:-0

Laavanya said...

I love semiya upma - always have. That's a great idea to incorporate soy granules... looks so delicious and I always eat with pickle and yogurt too :)

sra said...

I don't understand why people don't like upma, most people react very violently at the very mention of it - I love it! Nice touch with soy granules.

FH said...

I just ate everything which was put infront of me when I was a kid, can't remember disliking any food!:D
I love that photo, looks mouthwatering. Soy granules, I still have bring myself to get used to that,but love Tofu though!:)

DK said...

Dunno why, but i always used to like semiya upma but not rava upma! Now with years, the only improvement is that I dont mind the latter now! but semiya remains by fav! I sometimes use soy chunks in Upma too jus like urs..and sometimes jus make soy upma! :)

Richa said...

like all kinds of upma, urs looks d-lish :)
good to know that the soya granules will not alter the taste ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi Rajitha!
I used to hate Upma when i was kid, but now, i like it and try to find ways to make this dish more healthier :-) Maybe when we become adults, we begin to like food more by its nutrient content than the looks.. :-)

www.zaiqa.net

amna said...

couldn't agree with u more there! i hated upma too!! even now i dislike it but semiya upma is a different story, especially if its this healthy :)

Namratha said...

Soy Granules is a good clever addition Rajitha, I for one wouldn't know for sure :D Good recipe!!

EC said...

Thats a lovely variation to the usual semiya upma

Sig said...

Are soy granules invisible? I can't see those in there... (It is a fab picture btw).. Cheater cheater... :) And did you say you don't like soy chunks? SHAME ON YOU Missy!

Finla said...

Upma looks delicious.
I have never cooked with soya

Bharathy said...

Got a little bewildered to see that word Moi :D !!...then got back to normal :)

Semiya Upma with soy granules!.brilliant idea...Good Indian one too!..
I could think of all western ones only!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your comment on my site - http://365daysveg.wordpress.com. Your Soy Semiya looks YUM-O!!!!
Can we add each other in fellow bloggers? I would love to add you.

--Priya

Rajesh &Shankari said...

Semiya upma is my all time fav..adding soy is a nice touch and then endamame too..

Cynthia said...

I guess it makes sense that as we grow and change as people that our taste buds should too :)

Rachel said...

Ahh i never liked upma and still don't...And i face a crisis where what I make at home is disliked by my toddler and she is so interested in eating the same thing at someone else's place ..

Soy in upma..neat!!!

Sia said...

its strange thing...i love semiya upma and not a big fan of rava upma. i make rava upma for my hubby and eat semiya one;)
i too am not a big fan of soya chunks. some what i cant stand its chewy taste. but disguising it in upma sounds quite good to me and i cant really see soya chunks in that pics;) so girl, u have sold this one well

Rajitha said...

tbc- i would have given M.S a run for her money with my classical singing voice :D

laav - actually jeeves eats it the same way like you do..i eat with pickle of sugar!!

sra - i know..i have felt the same thing..i think because it is not exotic and quite humble ?? :)


asha - u were a good girl huh!..i have issues with textures of food..you will not even taste the soy in this

DK - soy upma..hmm..that would be a little too much for me..but no doubt healthy :)

richa - i used granuela only because of that

mona - i guess you are forced to like certain foods because you know it is good for you..and it sucks to cook 2 dishes for 2 ppl!!

nags - try this version..you may like it

nammu - i know ;)

easy - i was fed up with the same carb laden breakfast and snacking all day!!

sig - glad that you kept up with my expectations and come up with some baseless accusations :D..and i am no cheat girl (about to
cry :(

happy cook - do try girl

bharathy - awww..u are so cute!!

priya - i already have :)

shankari - love edamame..i usually interchange it with peas..tho diff in texture..the similarity in color gets me!!

cyn - i guess so...i think in my case it is because i feel i should incorporate more protein..so i do it with granuels, as the taste is not strong!

rachel - u made me laugh!!..toddlers are like that..my nephew at 2 who would not eat a bite of anything unless there is drama..ate 3 papads when he went to a friend's home!! my sis was soo embarassed ;)

sia - rava did take me more time than semia..and these are granuels sia..they sorta disintegrate in the upma..that is why i use them..do try if you can :)

Mansi said...

Rajitha, that looks great, seriously...this is one form in which soy wouldn't be so un-tasty:) loved the addition of dals:)

bee said...

i don't upma either, but it tastes much better when made with cornmeal.

Rajitha said...

mansi - thanks!!

bee - know of ur love for semiya :D..cornmeal..i have never tried it..i have been wanting tho!!

Nanditha Prabhu said...

i used to hate upma too as a kid . but today it is a regular dish in my house hold! ur pic looks grt! i was trying to see soya chunks there;)

Raaga said...

Its not worth living... this life... if there's no upma :-)

http://chefatwork.blogspot.com/2008/01/mixed-vegetable-poha.html

that's my entry to WBB :-)

Kribha said...

I love upmas too. I'm not a big fan of soy chunks maybe granules will work better. I'll surely try this. Your presentation looks awesome.

Archana Doshi said...

Very interesting,never tried semia upma with soy. This would be a perfect recipe for the ONE DISH MEAL event I am hosting. I would love for you to participate. The details for the event are at the link below or at my site.
http://www.archanaskitchen.com/2008/uncategorized/monthly-one-dish-event-meals/