Aval (Poha) Upma

Preparing dinner after a day out is not an easy thing. Especially when you have friends. Sometime I feel I have run out of options. The only dish that we can make for four plus people is upma. I always have aval in my pantry. Aval upma can be made easily in no time. It can be made with simple ingredients. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 Cups of thick poha (aval)
• 1 Large onion, finely chopped
• 5-6 Green Chillies, halved
• 1 Inch of ginger, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon of mustard seeds
• 1 Teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 Teaspoon asafetida 
• 1 Tablespoon of channa dhal
• 3 Tablespoons of cooking oil (I use sesame oil to make upmas)
• 1/2 Cup of raw peanuts (optional)
• 1 Sprig curry leaves
• Handful of finely chopped cilantro (corriander leaves)
• Salt to taste
• Juice of a lemon

Directions

Soak the poha in warm water. Drain the water and keep the poha aside. There is a certain variety of poha that soaks right away. So you need to be careful otherwise you would end up making poha halwa. Heat the oil in a big skillet. Add the mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Then add channa dhal, green chillies, curry leaves, ginger, chopped cilantro, turmeric powder and asafetida. Now add the raw peanuts and saute for few minutes. Add the chopped onions and saute until the onions are tender. Finally add the soaked poha and stir until everything mixes well. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice. Serve hot with any chutney or yogurt.

There are few optional ingredients you can add to this upma. I add potato to poha upma. Have fun cooking!

Its very difficult to be a regular blogger when you have a toddler at home. When I sit with a computer my daughter sits on my lap and doesn't let me do anything. Its been almost a year since my last post. One thing I have learned in the past few months in Canada is you can cook a wonderful meal with minimum dishes and no appliances. I have been travelling a lot last year and I felt I could give a few tips to people that love to travel, especially with a kid. You would definitely need to take dishwash liquid and scrubber. In addition it would be very handy to have a coffee mug and a soup bowl just incase if you are caught up in your room when there is heavy downpour outside. There are lots of canned soup varieties available in the grocery stores.

I hope I can be regular from now on. See you soon!

Black eyed peas kuzhambu

Being away from home is not fun, especially when you are on partial vacation. I am away from my home and my kitchen. I am in a new kitchen with minimum grocery. I had some black eyed peas but no Indian spices. I decided to make kuzhambu that goes with rice and chapathi. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup of black eyed peas (Soak the peas in water overnight)
• 1 Big onion, finely chopped
• 1 Tomato
• 1 Teaspoon of mustard seeds
• 1 Teaspoon of jeera/cummin seeds
• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 Red chillies
• 2 Tablespoons of sambar powder (or red chilli powder based on the spice level)
• 1/2 Cup of coconut milk
• 1/4 Cup of finely chopped cilantro
• 1 Tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste
• Salt to taste

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the mustard seeds and allow it to sizzle. Add jeera/cummin seeds and red chillies. Add the onion and tomato and saute them until they are soft. Add the black eyed peas, sambar powder, salt and 1 cup of water. Cover the skillet with a lid and simmer until the peas are cooked. Once the peas are cooked pour in the coconut milk. Simmer it for 2-3 minutes. Add half of the chopped cilantro. Kuzhambu is ready. Pour it into a serving bowl and garnish with remaining cilantro. Serve with chapathi or rice.