Semiya (Vermicelli) Upma

Upma, a south Indian dish can be prepared with semolina or sago or wheat rava or rice rava or vermicelli and so on. It is healthy and colourful if some vegetables are added in upma. It is easy to prepare at short notice as most of the ingredients used in upma are kept at home to meet sudden requirements. Upma can be made further rich in taste by adding nuts and using ghee for seasoning.

Vermicelli is known as Semiya in Tamil and as Seviyan in Hindi.

Ingredients

• Roasted vermicelli – 2½ cup
• Onion chopped – 1 cup
• Green peas (fresh or frozen) – 1 cup
• Grated carrot – 1 cup
• Green chilli chopped – 4 to 5 no
• Ginger grated – 1 table spoon
• Lemon juice – 1 tea spoon
• Salt – as per taste
• For seasoning
  • Mustard – ½ tea spoon
  • Urad dal – ½ tea spoon
  • Bengal gram – 1 table spoon
  • Oil – 2 to 4 table spoon
  • Asafetida – pinch
  • Curry leaves – few

Method

• Heat a pan, do the seasoning; add onion, green chilli, curry leaves, ginger, salt and fry for few minutes till onion is soft and pink in colour; now add green peas, carrot and fry for few minutes.

• Add water, lemon juice and mix; let the water boil (if vermicelli is thick variety, use two cups of water for one cup of vermicelli; if it is thin variety, reduce the water little); now add vermicelli, mix and cook in low flame till water evaporates.

• Serve hot with any chutney.

Tips

• If vermicelli is not pre-roasted, dry roast it to avoid sticky upma.
• Lemon juice helps to improve the texture of Semiya Upma.