Rava Upma with Cashews and Curry Leaves

Ingredients

• 120 g semolina, coarse
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 30 g cashews
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 12 curry leaves
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 fresh chilli, finely chopped
• 15 g fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 60 g frozen peas
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 dl water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Method

1. 1.

   Dry-roast the semolina — Dry-roast the semolina in a wide pan over medium heat for 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until it feels sandy and smells nutty but has taken on no colour. Tip it onto a plate.

2. 2.

   Temper the spices — Heat the oil in the same pan and fry the cashews until golden, then lift them out. Add the mustard seeds and wait for them to pop, then the urad dal until it turns pale gold, then the curry leaves, which will crackle at once.

3. 3.

   Fry the aromatics — Add the onion, chilli and ginger and fry for 4 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir in the peas and turmeric and cook for another minute.

4. 4.

   Boil the salted water — Pour in the water with the salt and bring it to a rolling boil, about 4 minutes. Keep it boiling hard for the next step or the semolina will clump.

5. 5.

   Stir in the semolina — Rain the roasted semolina into the boiling water in a thin stream with one hand while stirring hard with the other. It will thicken in under a minute; keep stirring for 3 minutes until it pulls away from the pan, then cover, take off the heat and leave for 5 minutes.

6. 6.

   Fluff and finish — Fork the upma through to loosen it, then stir in the lemon juice, the fried cashews and the cilantro. Serve straight away, while it is still fluffy and steaming.