Spicy Vegetable Masala Upma / Rava / Rulav.

"Spicy Vegetable Masala Upma/ Rava/ Rulav" ... a delicious spiced rava upma with added goodness of Cabbage, Green Peas, Carrots etc. ... Served along with Madras Chooda/ Farsan (Store bought), Curds, Elaichi Bananas And Apple .... a very filling platter indeed ... Yummilicious ... 

** Be it eating, cooking, reading, cleaning or any other work, It is most of the time related to our moods. I strongly believe that when one is in good mood the food cooked / created turns up excellent and if in foul mood so does the food turn up. When a person cooks food with love even a simple food gets added with lots of flavours that is beyond imagination. A simple Upma can be turned into an innovative dish with added in combinations of veggies and simple flavours. Today I wanted to cook something light after the heavy dishes that followed during Navaratri. Was about to make a simple upma / rulav panna / seasoned rava, but then the very thought of eating it in simple way though sometimes I love that too was not quite appealing. I felt in no mood to eat the regular a little bit bland sort of dish as it was for lunchtime. Went ahead and raided the fridge to find a large cabbage, some green peas, carrots besides some other vegetables.

** So I just thought of making a spicy flavoured upma with the addition of cabbage, carrots and peas to brighten up and make the dish more nutritious. I have used Bansi Rava / Mangalore Rava / Barik Lapsi here. To be frank, while making upma, I usually make it from Bansi Rava instead of Bombay Rava which I find a bit too fine. However, here for this recipe, please do use Bansi Rava to get a textured rava as it is more tastier and bulkier and also the thicker variety of Wheat cream / rava is always considered better in nutrition value. Also I have used sambar powder a readily available powder in Mangalore Stores in Mumbai or in Southern Indian Stores elsewhere. I love using sambar powder to spice up dishes and they not only turn up awesome in tasty but so does in colour. Very soon I will be venturing into making my own Sambar Powder and will be sharing the same here. As for now, all of you can use any sambar powder you usually use in your cooking. I have already prepared similar one before and posted here in my blog which was but with onions and tomatoes. There are many more variations which I will be posting soon.

** Here is my simple method of preparing "Spicy Vegetable Masala Upma/ Rava/ Rulav" ... My Style ... tastes great ...

** You will need about 2 cups of shelled green peas/ vatana (I used frozen peas, you may use whichever is available to you), 2 cups of cubed carrot/ gajar pieces (peeled and cut to pieces) and 2 cups of finely chopped cabbage (not very fine). Wash well, put in a colander, drain well and keep them ready aside separately.

** Heat 2 tblsp of ghee/ toop in a thick bottomed kadai, when it melts, lower the heat to medium and add in 2 heaped cups of Bansi Rava / Mangalore Rava / Barik Lapsi and fry for 4-5 minutes. Remove this on a plate and keep aside to be used later on. Add in 5 cups of water into the same kadai and bring to boiling point. When the water comes to full boil, lower the heat to medium and add in the peas and carrot and cook till 75% done. Now add in the cabbage and further cook all together till 90% done.

** Meanwhile prepare for seasoning by keeping a small pan with 2-3 tblsp of ghee / oil and when smoking hot lower the heat. Add in 2 tsp of urad dal and let fry a bit, when the colour changes slightly add in 1 tsp of mustard seeds and when they begin to splutter add in 10-12 curry leaves followed by 1 tsp of hing/ asafoetida powder and 3 – 4 tablespoons of sambar powder depending upon how spicy you want the upma to be and stir immediately. 

** Fry all the above ingredients for a minute or two and pour this into the cooking vegetable and mix well. See to it that the heat is on minimum. Now add in salt (namak/ meeta) to taste, the fried rava and mix well. See to it that there are no lumps. Increase the heat and when you see bubble on top, lower the heat again to minimum, cover with a tight lid and cook till done. When all the water has been evaporated and the rava is cooked (it hardly takes much time) remove from fire and keep aside covered for 5-10 minutes. 

** You may garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves if desired. I have not. Serve the Spicy Vegetable Masala Upma / Rava / Rulav hot with some farsan as accompaniment along with some curds. That’s it you have a yummy and filling lunch ready. I recommend this one to be enjoyed either during lunchtime / dinnertime as the dish is quite filling and personally feel it a little bit heavy for breakfast. You may serve the same for breakfast too if you wish. You can also carry this in a lunch box to office. Go ahead enjoy this awesome spicy masala rava with family and friends.