Arisi Upma (Rice Upma) with Kathirika Gotsu (Eggplant curry)

Upma is a staple south Indian food. It seves as breakfast, lunch or dinner, even a snack. Upma can be prepared form different grains like wheat, rice or semolina.

I must say, I am not a big fan of upma in general but love Arisi upma. It is so tasty! No matter how many times I try, my Arisi upma will simply not taste like my mother’s!

My mother used to make this upma in a ccopper alloy/bronze pot (vengala paanai). I bet it adds to the flavor of this dish. This upma is a very filling dish.

I become nostalgic with this upma, it was my family’s staple-once a week dinner menu!
I reminisce all the good times we had. I yearn for my mother’s south Indian food almost always.

Upma Ingredients

1 cup Raw rice or sona masoori
3 tbsp Toor dal (split pigeon peas)
4 tbsp Coconut (fresh is preferable, but dry coconut flakes work well too)
Tempering Ingredients: ½ tsp Mustard seeds, 1 tsp Urad dal (black gram), 1 tsp Chana dal (split chickpea), ½ tsp whole pepper (coarsely ground), 1 tsp cumin seeds, 4 to 6 red chillies
4-6 curry leaves
Salt
1 tbsp oil
3 cups water

1. Wash the rice and toor dal in water, drain completely and soak for about 30min. This softens the rice and makes grinding easier.
2. Now coarsely grind this rice-dal mixture, to the consistency of semolina (sooji in hindi) or sugar grains. (You may grind the whole pepper with the rice here or add the the ground pepper with the tempering ingredients.)
3. Heat oil in a skillet, add the tempering ingredients. Once the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves and coconut. Let the coconut brown for about 45 sec.
4. Now add 3 cups of water, salt it and let it boil. Now add the rice-dal mix to the boiling water, stirring often. Let the rice cook might take about 20min. Keep stirring to prevent the bottom from burning. Taste the upma for done-ness (yes, it’s a word!).
5. You can also cook this upma in a rice cooker or in a pressure cooker.

This is typically serves with sambar (a spicy lentil soup) or coconut chutney or kathirika gotsu /eggplant curry (a tangy eggplant dish)




Kathirika Gotsu (Tangy Eggplant curry)

This is a popular side with upma or dosa. Growing up, I used to hate eggplant. But now I have come to realize how amazingly versatile and tasty eggplant can be! This dish combines eggplant with tamarind for the tanginess and it is a perfect combo, I must say.

Ingredients

1 Eggplant (medium sized Italian variety), diced into 1cm cubes (soak in salted water to prevent discoloration)
1 onion, diced
2 large tomatoes or 3 medium sized tomatoes, diced
2 green chilies- cut into small pieces
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste (or 1 tsp each grated ginger root and minced garlic)
Tamarind ,lemon sized ball, about 1” diameter soaked in 1 cup hot water
Tempering Ingredients- 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp Chana dal (split chickpea), 4-6 curry leaves, 1 tsp cumin seeds.
1 tbsp oil
Salt

1. Heat oil in a saucepan. Once hot, green chilies and the tempering ingredients. When the mustard splutters, add the onion, salt and fry for 3-5min.
2. Add tomato and eggplant along with ½ cup of water. Let it cook for about 3 min
3. Soak the tamarind in hot water. Extract the juice from the tamarind by rubbing in between your fingers. Add the tamarind juice (not the tamarind itself) to the saucepan. Let the eggplant cook in this tamarind juice. The leftover tamarind can be used to extract more juice, add it to the pan and let it cook for about 15min over medium heat.
4. Do a taste test and adjust accordingly.

Serve with upma!