Friday 13 April 2007

Weekend Lunch Series: Vermicelli (Sevai) Upma

Upma of any kind brings a smile to my face. It has to be one of my most adored dishe of all time. There was a time though, when I had completely stopped eating Upma.....why? Read on.....at your own risk.


When I was younger, we went on a school trip to Rajasthan....our school had employed 3 cooks for our group back then. When we got to Jaipur in the morning, we stopped somewhere for breakfast, and while we all waited, the cooks made breakfast for us...

I was literally salivating as my Gitamasi, who also happened to be my Math teacher at the school, told me that it would be my favorite - Upma. I was so excited....but when I sat down to eat, I found a disgusting piece of black hair in it. I screamed mentally and quietly threw away the Upma. I stopped eating Upma completely after that incident, I was so put off. Its only been 4 years since I started eating it again....yes, after a gap of many,many years. Every time someone made Upma, I was reminded of the Bai that made food for us during our school trip and I'd get disgusted. To this day, I tie my hair in a tight bun when I start to cook!

Back to the present, I make Upma almost every week now, I started eating it when my mother in law made me the best Upma while I was pregnant with Sahil. I enjoyed it so much that she used to make it for me a lot...and this was one of the only things that I could keep down, in my initial months....
This recipe is just another form of Upma to me...in a noodle form. I love it for its taste and texture....do try it if you haven't already.

This is also my entry to Laxmi's wonderful event - RCI.

You will need:
  • 1 cup - roasted Sevai (Vermicelli)
  • 1 medium red onion- chopped
  • 1 large Jalapeño- chopped
  • A mix of peas and corn - use fresh or frozen
  • Mustard seeds, Urad daal, Curry Leaves, Oil - for the tempering
  • Salt, a pinch of sugar, a drop or two of lemon juice
  • 1 cup water - rough estimate
Roast the Sevai in a teaspoon of oil until lightly golden brown. Set aside. In another pan, heat a tbsp of Oil, add the mustard seeds, Urad daal, Curry leaves. When they all sizzle, add the onions and jalapeño. Give this a stir until the onions turn translucent. Add the peas and corn at this point. Give it another whirl....and add the sevai. Slowly add enough water to cover the sevai,add the salt, pinch of sugar and lemon juice, lower the heat a bit and let it cook...making sure it doesn't stick to the bottom. The Sevai will turn soft in a few minutes. Serve hot. A perfect way to kick start the weekend, I say.....enjoy it.

RCI Image Courtesy: Laxmi

27 comments:

Prema Sundar said...

Love this upma trupthi. My mom used to make this for evening snack.But nowadays I stopped making this as my husband hates upmas. lovely entry for the RCI.

Sig said...

Wow T, yummy looking Upma! I'm glad you got over the Upmaphobia :).

I've never had a savory vermicelli upma, my mom makes a sweet version. Do you have this with chutney or just like that?

Unknown said...

OMG, i actually have all of this in my pantry. I go make it now!

Latha said...

Upma is my favorite too Trupti. MY husband hates it! He called rava upma "cement". Says it sits in his tummy like cement!
But i make rava and vermicelli upma all the time for me and the kids :-)
I'm glad u've been able to start eating it again :-) I'll think of you and make sur ei tie my hair everytime i make upma now!

Viji said...

Nice writeup Trupti. It is really a pleasure to recall and share our childhood memories. Comfort food. I don't need side dish for this. Love to to eat with little sugar during childhood days. Viji

musical said...

Hi Upma Fan :)

Looks like we'll ahve to start an upma fan club soon :))

Shavige upma and hari-mirch dhania chutney.....heavenly.

Save some for me, sara mat kha jana :)

hugs,
surili.

Coffee said...

Hahahaha..... how about wearing a chef's cap while cooking ;)

Looks great!!! :)

archana said...

I like Upma too.It is so filling.When I make this sevai upma I put some tomato sauce on it :)It gives it a chatpata taste :)

Even I get put off by things like hair etc.Etc becoz I have seen a worm in cooked rice when I was in hostel, and also a cockroach's leg only one on the puri. So the remaining legs were on some one else puri.
Imagine my plight being a veg.
Good it was not whole fried cockroach :))))))I would't be blogging today:)

archana said...

The comment I have just given about cockroach'leg etc is me Archana from Tried and tested Recipes.I have a Blogger profile now:)

sunita said...

We usually have the sweet version of vermicelli...must give this one a try...

Anonymous said...

Upma with noodles looks so delicious... when we were kids we used to cook noodle snacks all the time. Imagine if we'd had this way... what I've been missing all these years! Thanks for sharing the story too Trupti, keep your hair up! ;)

Anonymous said...

Food trauma - that's what I'm going to call it :), I'm glad you've successfully overcome that to come out with this delicious looking Sevaya Upma, bravo!

Richa said...

sevai upma is such a quick dish, yours looks yummy.
will try ur version next time. maney spicy upma sathey dahi bhave
thanks

Sia said...

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...
u know whay i am laughing right? ;) he he he he he....

Anonymous said...

hmmm... my favourite too! a friend of mine used to make it with lemon juice (like lemon rice)and i'm still trying to get that perfection in vain:)

Anonymous said...

Vermicelli upma...that sound interesting. I follow almost the same recipe for making vermicelli pulav..

Trupti you always come up with lovely and comforting recipe...:-)

Hugs
Sushma

Kajal said...

Hi Trupti,
Good Recipe with nice picture.
Enjoy reading your school trip of Rajasthan.
Happy Weekend.:))

LERA said...

Trupti,Loved the music, and upma with a Twist..:)

Sharmi said...

I too love semiya upma and it has been my all time favorite. When I came back from school my mom used to serve them hot. even now when I visit she make delicious upmas for me. simple and elegant entry

Roopa said...

sevai looks comforting!
i too had the experience of cockroach at the hostel in majige Rasam, my God i hated it for a while!!!

Padmaja said...

Hey i love this upma trupti!!
my fav breakfast!!

Lakshmik said...

Thanks so much for the entry Trupti. I love your nankhattai recipe. I am going to try it soon.

mommyof2 said...

2 weeks back I bought a pack of Vermecelli. I don't think I have ever made but something made me buy it the other day and now I know why.. because you were going to post a recipe..lol..

Seema Bhat said...

Trupti,
Nice writeup and the vermicelli upma looks delicious. This is a quick evening snack for us most of the time

amee said...

Hi!
I wanted to try your recipe but was not sure if you cover the vermicelli while it is cooking or not?
My mother also went to school in Rajasthan and remembers a sort of a nutty wheat berry halwa that was served for breakfast! Do you know what it is called?

Anonymous said...

Trupti,

No need to use the substitute - vermicelli- for these recipes. To make the same traditional sevai fresh at home, we have an innovative Automatic sevai maker called SevaiMagik. Please visit www.sevaimagic.com for more info.

nasreen basu said...

awful piece of information, I had come to know about your blog from my friend vimal, mumbai,i have read atleast 13 posts of yours by now, and let me tell you, your blog gives the best and the most interesting information. This is just the kind of information that i had been looking for, i'm already your rss reader now and i would regularly watch out for the new posts, once again hats off to you! Thanks a million once again, Regards, Semiya upma

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