After 103 number of blog posts, you must have realised and I also must have mentioned couple of times, that if I have to choose between healthy food without being tasty and tasty food without being healthy, I will prefer the second one. The idea of healthy food does not appeal to me much. Unfortunately, when it comes to healthy food, the image of flavourless steamed vegetables and boring soups are still attached to my mind.
Not that I am proud about the fact, but the fact that I am really proud of is, I don’t generally give up till I turn healthy foods as per my tastebuds. Should not I take the credit, because so far whenever I have put my hands on healthy food, somehow the God of healthy food never disappointed me. And honestly, I must confess, as I continue exploring the world of food, slowly and steadily, my every notion about healthy food is getting refuted.
Same did happen with me, when I attempted to make a dish with another popular and healthy cereal called ‘Oats’. Before this, whenever I observed oats through others, soaking oats in milk and having it without showing any excitement on their face, I have to admit the impression was not pleasant. However, I was not completely disappointed, as back in my mind I was always determined to give it a makeover. My first direct tryst with oats was the Oats Khichdi from a food brand, when like me they also tried to give the so-called boring oats a makeover. But my ultimate destination with oats has always been Oats Upma, which I successfully attempted, though without expectation. To my surprise and my husband’s surprise (My husband is also a case like me), this ‘Oats Upma’ actually turned out to be not only a healthy but a tasty option as well, which led to the typical breakfast table promises of trying the dish often.
Don’t know when this oats upma will have its next turn (as there are lots in the pipeline), but this is for sure, the dish Oats Upma have increased our eagerness, impatience and excitement to devour the dish again and clean the bowl till the last flakes.
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Recipe: Oats Upma
Preparation Time: Around 17 minutes Time Taken To Roast Oats: 5 minutes Time Taken To Cook Upma: 30 minutes Equipment Used: Chopping Board, Knife, Peeler, Bowls, Wok or Pan, Turner, Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons Yield: Serves 3
Ingredients:
- 1 onion
- ½ bell pepper or capsicum
- 1 tomato
- 2 carrots
- 1/3 cup curry leaves
- ½ cup cashew nuts
- 3 cups oats
- 4 tablespoon refined oil
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 and ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon sugar
- 3 cups water
- Ginger 1 inch X ½ inch X ½ inch
- 1 green chilly
Method:
- Clean and chop onion, bell pepper and tomato
- Clean, peel and chop carrot
- Rinse and keep the curry leaves ready
- Slice cashew nuts into halves and keep them ready in a bowl
- Heat a wok
- Roast the oats for five minutes in the hot wok
- Shift the roasted oats in a bowl
- Now heat oil in the wok
- As soon as the oil starts emitting light smoke, temper the oil with mustard seeds and curry leaves
- Add cashew nuts and fry them till they are slightly brown
- Fry onion till they turn golden brown
- Add other vegetables, followed by ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon sugar
- Stir and mix the ingredients. Cover the wok and let the vegetables cook on sim
- Uncover the wok after 5 minutes and add the roasted oats
- Stir continuously for 2-3 minutes, so that the ingredients spread evenly
- Add water little by little, till oats absorbs water and becomes soft
- Grate ginger and chop green chillies into the Upma
- Taste and adjust salt and sugar. I have added another 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon sugar
- Switch off the flame and spread 1 teaspoon ghee on the Upma
Clean, chop and keep the vegetables ready.
Rinse and keep the curry leaves ready.
Slice and keep cashew nuts in a bowl.
Roast the oats for five minutes in the hot wok.
Shift the roasted oats in a bowl.
Heat oil and temper the oil with mustard seeds and curry leaves.
Fry cashew nuts till they are slightly brown.
Fry onion and add other vegetables.
Add ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon sugar.
Mix the ingredients. Cover the wok and let the vegetables cook on sim.
Uncover the wok after 5 minutes and add the roasted oats
Stir continuously for 2-3 minutes. Add water little by little, till oats absorbs water and becomes soft.
Grate ginger and chop green chillies into the Upma
Taste and adjust salt and sugar.
Switch off the flame and spread 1 teaspoon ghee on the Upma.
Tips:
- While chopping vegetables, try to keep the size of the vegetables almost same. This will allow even cooking of the vegetables
- You can add any vegetable available in your pantry as per your preference
- Fry the onion before adding other vegetables in the pan. Although by mistake I have added all the vegetables including onion together
