Vermicelli Upma/ Semiya Upma

It is vacation time and for the first time blogging from a place other than home in Dubai. It feels good to be home and lot of changes have happened in a year - our family of doggies grew from 2 to 3, trees have been replaced by roads and places are beyond recognition, the bakery with my favorite egg samosa seems to have closed down, swipe machines have appeared even at the smallest of stores - demonetisation effect and yet the Gudbud ice cream tastes heavenly except for the increasing price and the decreasing glass size!!

While I feast on my mom's food and savor every moment - why don't you guys virtually feast on the recipe from my archives - Vermicelli Upma. I love the sweetness of this and for me it goes well even without a chutney. Ghee enhances the flavor and peanuts adds the crunch. So here we go - 

Ingredients

(Serves - 2)

1. Vermicelli - 1 cup
2. Water - 1 cup
3. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
4. Urad dal - 1 tsp
5. Chana dal - 1 tsp
6. Curry leaf - 1 sprig
7. Onion - 1 small chopped
8. Green Chilly - 1
9. Ginger - 1/4 tsp chopped
10. Carrot - 4 tbsp chopped
11. Peanuts - 2 tbsp
12. Cashewnut - 1 tbsp
13. Raisins - 1 tbsp
14. Sugar - 1 tbsp heaped
15. Salt
16. Ghee

Method

• Heat a skillet and add 2 tbsp of ghee. Fry the peanuts, cashew nuts and raisins separately and set aside on kitchen towel to drain excess ghee.
• In the same skillet, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter.
• Add the urad dal and chana dal. Once this browns add the curry leaf as well.
• Now, add the chopped onion along with the ginger and green chilly and cook until the onions are done.
• Add the chopped carrots along with the vermicelli and cook it for about a minute and half before adding water.
• Adjust salt at this stage and a tablespoon of sugar for the sweetness.
• Cook until done. Add the nuts and raisins at this stage and give it a good mix.
• Serve along with coconut chutney.

You may also note

• Cooking time of vermicelli depends largely on the type that you buy. I used the thin one which got cooked quite fast uncovered.
• You may use coriander leaf for the final garnish.