Arisi Upma (kichadi with Vegetables)

By Harini
There are few things in life which we would have detested in childhood but enjoy as an adult,I am sure many of us have a long list of this and I am no different.Especially when it comes to food, our perspective changes as we go through different stages in life,from being a school goer, teenager to an adult managing his/her own home.Definitely motherhood lets go lot of our inhibitions be on food or anything else in life. Even though we don't enjoy certain things or a dish case in point,we make that for our kid just because it is nutritious.
 This arisi upma is one such dish for me,loaded with nutrition it makes for such a healthy start of the day, I never appreciated this as a child or even an adult unless and until I started to cook. Once I started to cook things changed slowly and I make this regularly and I enjoy it too. It comes highly rated as toddler food too,being loaded with carbs, proteins and vitamins (if veggies are added). Once you prepare the rice granules (noi) for this in your free time,making this upma is as easy as making rice in a pressure cooker. The traditional way of making this calls for a heavy bottomed kadai,but we can easily make it in a cooker.

Preperation of arisi noi or rice rava
Ingredients: 
2 cups rice
1 table spoon moong dal
1 table spoon toor dal
2 teaspoons black peppercorns (milagu)
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
Method:
Soak rice and dals in water for 30 minutes,drain the water and spread it in a clean plate.Let it dry for another 30 minutes. In the mean time dry roast peppercorns and cumins and let them cool. Grind everything together to rava consistency. Store refrigirated.
Time: 1 hour
Yield: 3 cups (using the above mentioned ratio, you can increase the quantity)
How to make arisi upma :
Ingredients:
2 cups rice rava
1 carrot chopped
1 capsicum chopped
2 green chilles
1 dried red chilli
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon channa dal
1 teaspoon urad dal
1 teaspoon broken cashew nuts
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
2 table spoons ghee
Small piece of ginger crushed
Curry leaves
4 cups water
Salt
Method:
1.Heat 1 table spoon ghee in a cooker or pressure pan,add mustard,urad,channa dal and let them splutter.Next add cashew nuts and saute till golden.Add crushed ginger,green chilli,red chilli,curry leaves,hing and saute well.
2Add the chopped vegetables and saute for 10 minutes. Now add the rice rava, and salt.Mix well and add water to till.Keep stirring till the water is absorbed by the rava and mixture is of a paste like consistency.Close the lid of the pan and pressure cook till 4 -6 whistles.
3.Open once the pressure is released,add one more table spoon of ghee,mix well and serve hot.
Time : 20 minutes
Serves: 3

Notes:
1.You can adjust the amount of water used for pressure cooking.I cook it a bit mushy as I am feeding it to a toddler.
2.Replace hing with finely chopped onions.
3.Vegetables like beans,cabbage can be added
4.Ghee can be replaced with oil of choice.
5.Serve with sambar or coconut chutney.
This is my entry for breakfast recipes.