Tomato Semia Pulao

One morning, I decided I wasn't in the mood for rice. I definitely didn't feel like making chapattis. And for some vague reason, even upma didn't seem like a good option. Then I remembered reading this recipe years ago on a vermicelli packet. It seemed perfect for that morning. It gave me that kick which I get from trying something new. And it tasted great in our lunch box.

2 cups Roasted Vermicelli

2 Onions, sliced

4 Tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp Oil

2" Stick Cinnamon

2 Cloves

1 Green Cardamom

1 tsp Green Chilli Paste

1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/4 tsp Chilli Powder

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Add the onions and fry for a minute. Add the chilli and the ginger-garlic pastes and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry for another couple of minutes. Add the turmeric and chilli powders along with the salt. Add the vermicelli and mix well. Add 4 cups of hot water and cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Enjoy this with some cool raita on the side.

Semia Payasam

Festivals are always about food. I have always maintained that the only way I can explain the significance of any festival is through the food that is served on that day. I had heard this term, "Vadai Payasathoda saapaadu" which means a meal which includes vadai and payasam (kheer). In our family, this was sort of sacrosanct. While we didn't follow any "kitchen religion", Amma would always make vadai and payasam for any festival. And well, no one complained.

I talked earlier about why Deepavali is so special to me. Somehow, I never gave the religious significance of this festival even a thought earlier. It was about the "mangalsnan" and the goodies. I was never into firecrackers, but new clothes I looked forward to. Even if it meant that I got a pavadai chokka/ davani while my classmates got salwar kameezes. There was never a puja per se at our place for Deepavali. Also, there was no lighting of lamps all over the house on Deepavali. That ritual was saved for Karthikai Deepam. This year, we spent our first Deepavali after marriage in Gurgaon. It was just the two of us. So, we celebrated a very Tamil Naraka Chaturdashi on Monday, complete with the mor kuzhambu meal.

Lit oil lamps and placed them all over the house as is done in Konkani and Telugu homes.

And combining local traditions with what is done back home, we made gift hampers with the goodies made at home and went visiting friends and relatives.

The only thing that we hadn't thought of was doing all this with an unwell me. Winter is just around the corner and I just know it because I am down with a terrible cold and fever.

But sure as I am that night turns to day, I know that, this, too, shall pass. And I bring you a much loved payasam that is dear to me at any festival.

1/4 cup Roasted Vermicelli
1/2 can (200g) Sweetened Condensed Milk (Milkmaid/Mithai Mate)
1/2 litre Milk
½ tbsp Clarified Butter (Ghee)
½ tsp Cardamom Powder

a pinch Saffron, dissolved in some milk

For the garnish

1 tbsp Ghee

2 tsp Raisins

2 tsp Cashews

Heat the ghee in a vessel and roast the vermicelli for a couple of minutes. Add enough water to cover the vermicelli and cover the vessel. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the milk and the condensed milk to this. Keep stirring until the mixture is even (else you'll have burnt condensed milk) and bring to a boil. Add the cardamom powder and saffron mixture. Simmer the mixture for about 10-15 minutes.

For the garnish, heat the ghee in a frying ladle. Add the cashews. When the cashews turn golden, add the raisins. When the raisins become plump, pour the contents of the ladle into the simmering mixture.

This can be had hot orcold. When kept in the fridge, this payasam takes on a creamy, pudding like texture. No festival meal is really complete till you have savoured a helping of this divine stuff.

Happy Deepavali everyone!

Capsicum Semia Upma

I have talked often about my undying love for upma. It is funny how I don’t make it very often anymore. I think that’s what blogging does to me. I want to make newer stuff so that I can update my blog and thanks to that, I forget about my favourite foods. Because I’ve already blogged about them, I don’t bother to make them. Have you faced this too?

Anyway, here’s a simple breakfast number that doubles up as a lunch or dinner number when you’re rushed for time. It combines two of my favourites, capsicum and upma, in one dish.

1 cup Roasted Vermicelli

1 Onion, finely chopped

1 Capsicum, finely chopped

1 tsp Chilli Powder

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tsp Oil

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard, asafoetida and cumin seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the onions and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the chopped capsicum and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Add the roasted vermicelli along with a cup of hot water. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

This is off to me for the WBB: Express Breakfasts.

Cashew Vermicelli Kheer

I’ve talked earlier about my general dislike for payasam/kheer. Madgane, Badam Kheer and Rava Payasam are the few varieties I enjoy. But coconut milk kheers do not feature in Tamil festival menus (at least not in my house). So, if it isn’t badam kheer, then it has to be Semia (Vermicelli) Payasam. While I really like this payasam, S really loves it. I made it recently after a gap of some 18 months. The last time I made it was when we completed a month of marriage. We were not living together at the time as our jobs were in different cities and I happened to be in Gurgaon around then for some interviews.


I remember that day because it was terrible. I had specifically told the consultant that I wanted a job with normal working hours and that the worst case scenario would be one where I finish work by 9 p.m. The job I’d taken up in Bangalore required me to work at a different time each day of the week and since I had a personal compulsion to move to Bangalore, I accepted the job with every condition the company laid. I did not want to just accept any job that came my way in Gurgaon. I wanted a job with timings that would more or less coincide with S’s work timings. The two hour interview ended with a, “So, I am told you’re open to working till 1 a.m. twice or thrice a week.” I was seething inside. I spent my hard earned money to get on that flight and come to Gurgaon. I spent more money hiring a cab to ferry me to and from that interview. And I felt as though all of that was a total waste. I needed to do something to shake myself out of that lousy mood. So I made semia payasam. The only sweet dish I could make on a hot plate (we had no fridge, gas stove or microwave then). And the look of utter delight on S's face when he saw the payasam was enough to get me out of that lousy mood.

I will blog about the original recipe sometime later. The one all of us know and love. This payasam has a little twist in the tale. I did not add cashews and raisins fried in ghee to the dish. Instead, I added ground cashews to the dish.


1/4 cup Roasted Vermicelli

2 tbsp Cashews, ground

1/2 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (Milkmaid/Mithai Mate)

4-5 cups Milk (I used a litre)

½ tbsp Clarified Butter (Ghee)

½ tsp Cardamom Powder


Heat the ghee and roast the vermicelli for a couple of minutes. Add the milk to it and bring to a boil. Add the condensed milk to this. Keep stirring until the mixture is even (else you'll have burnt condensed milk). Add the ground cashews and the cardamom powder and simmer the mixture for about 10-15 minutes. It will begin to thicken nicely.

Serve hot or cold. This tastes heavenly either way. (The picture does it no justice!)

This is off to Easy Crafts for the Think Spice… Think Cardamom event.

Semia Upma

I don't work on Saturdays. But S goes to work on odd Saturdays of the month. After a nice party with the neighbours last night, we went to bed only at 1 a.m. or so. I, as usual, woke up early and asked S if he wanted me to make lunch or if he'd get a dabba at work. Initially he said he'd grab a bite at work and that I needn't bother. A little later, he said, "I want to eat Semia Upma for lunch." I had only 15 minutes and so didn't add any vegetables. It was ready in a jiffy.

Semia Upma always brings back memories. Of the first time I tried to make it. And my weekend trips from hostel. Amma had a mental timetable of sorts and would make different things for breakfast everyday, trying not to repeat a dish in a week. And somehow Semia Upma invariably landed on her timetable for Saturday mornings. I was studying in Pondicherry and would come home on most weekends. I'd land up on Saturday morning and find Semia Upma on the table. After a while I asked Amma, "Why don't you make something else?" And she said, "I could. But don't you like this?" I said, "Yeah, but I get this every time I come home." She hadn't realized that I only had breakfast at home on Saturdays and Sundays and thought that she has been dishing out varieties. She then started treating me to different stuff.

But I still love this upma and with roasted vermicelli, it is ready within minutes.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Roasted Vermicelli

1 Onion, chopped

1 tsp Oil

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1/4 tsp Urad Dal

1/4 tsp Chana Dal

1 Red Chilli

1 Green Chilli

1/2 tsp Ginger Paste

7-8 Curry Leaves

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a kadhai and add the urad and chana dals. When the urad dal starts to brown, add the mustard and asafoetida. When the mustard splutters, add the red and green chillies, curry leaves and ginger paste. Add the onions and fry until they turn translucent. Add the vermicelli and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 cup of boiling water to this. Add the salt and mix well. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Garnish with coriander and scraped coconut if you like. Team it up with your favourite pickle and get set for the day.

Mixed Vegetable Semia Upma

I must be the biggest upma fan there ever was. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I can make upma out of anything and eat it. I am itching to make upma out of corn next. I hope to find corn dalia in the market shelves some day and I shall try to make that.

This, however, is a pretty standard upma. But it looks and tastes so good that I can make this every week and not tire of it.

Ingredients:

1 cup Roasted Vermicelli (Semia)
1 Onion, chopped
1 cup Mixed vegetables, chopped and cooked (I used carrots and beans)
1 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Urad Dal
1/2 tsp Chana Dal
1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
7-8 Curry Leaves
½ tsp Chilli Powder
¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Green Chilli paste
1 tsp Ginger Paste
Salt to taste
Coriander Leaves for garnish

Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the urad and chana dals. When the urad dal begins to brown a little, add the mustard and asafoetida. When the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves, onions, ginger and chilli pastes and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the chilli and turmeric powders and fry for a minute more. Add the mixed vegetables and the vermicelli and fry the entire mixture for 1-2 minutes. Add 1 cup of boiling hot water and salt to this. Mix well, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes on a low flame.

Mix well, garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy it as a snack or a light meal.

Tomato Semia Upma

Quick breakfast. I wish I could find a way to get breakfast ready in a jiffy. I grew up eating an egg a day. But I avoid eggs now as the smell gets to me. I eat it once in a while, but not everyday. Muesli and cereals... yes, but not everyday again. I need variety. Even for breakfast. Yeah, that's me.

This morning I decided to make tomato semia upma. But I was lazy as always and didn't bother to keep my dal, chillies, curry leaves and ginger ready. But my upma came out very nice. The picture, however, will be put up later. I don't want to be late for this week's A-Z.

U is for Upma and this is my U entry to Nupur's A-Z of Indian Vegetables.

Ingredients:


1 cup Roasted Semia
1 Onion, sliced
1 Tomato, finely chopped
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tbsp Oil
1tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
Salt to taste


Heat the oil in a kadhai and add the mustard, asafoetida and cumin seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the onions and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the chopped tomato and fry for a minute or two more. Add the chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Add the roasted semia and along with a cup of hot water. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.


You may garnish it with scraped coconut and coriander leaves. (I, of course, did nothing.)

Semia Bagala Bhat (Curd and Vermicelli)

All of us know a great deal about tayir saadam or curd rice or rice and yogurt. Call it what you will, this is one dish that is wholesome and cooling and gentle and all things at once. Although this is eaten in several parts of the country, it has got a TamBram stamp on it. (Am yet to figure out why.) And TamBrams are even called "Tayir Saadam" by many. Truly derogatory. But given the benefits, it's really OK if I get ridiculed for eating this.

Despite the fact that I grew up in Madras and spent many a summer in Bombay, my tolerance for heat is limited. And what I can tolerate is the humid heat of a coastal region. What I cannot tolerate is the dry heat of Hyderabad or Delhi. Tayir Saadam to the rescue! At the start of summer, we ate just curd rice everyday for lunch. It's a pleasure to eat cold cold curd rice when it is 45 degrees outside.

Many years ago, a family friend landed in Madras when my parents were away and I took him to Palimar, a restaurant in Madras. We ordered an Executive Thali and this came with, what was then, an unusual dish. Curd Rice in a bowl. What's so special about that? Oh wait. Take a closer look. Is that semia payasam? Hmmm... no. It was curd rice made with semia instead of rice. I loved it.

While I have made it several times, I made this last week while we were entertaining. And it was a great hit.

Ingredients:

1 cup Roasted Vermicelli (Semia)

1 cup Water

1 Green Chilli, finely chopped

1" piece of Ginger, finely chopped

1/4 cup Coriander Leaves, finely chopped

1 cup Curd

1/2 cup Skimmed Milk

Salt to Taste

For the Tempering:

1 tsp Oil

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

8-10 Curry Leaves

Place the roasted vermicelli and water in a microwave safe bowl and cook in the microwave on high for 4-5 minutes. Allow to stand for 2-3 minutes.

In a serving bowl, place the chillies, ginger, and coriander leaves. Add the curd and salt.

Heat the oil in a small kadhai. Add the mustard seeds and asafoetida. When the mustard begins to splutter, add the curry leaves. Add this to the curd mixture. Add the cooked vermicilli and the milk and mix well. Prepare this a couple of hours before you plan to eat it and chill it in the refrigerator for that duration. Garnish it with coriander leaves if you wish.

Enjoy this with Avakaya or Mango Thokku or any favourite pickle of yours.