These days Arlo wants to have Indian breakfasts most days. He’s been rejecting toast, cheese toast, grilled cheese, and even banana milk (which is just a banana smashed in some milk, with a teaspoon of sugar). Banana milk was his favorite but now he wants upma or dosa. I’m glad in some ways but it’s also very tiring. I have to prep and make them which has been difficult. I have been having my shoes in different buckets at the same time and been neglecting a few important things. A few days ago was the long weekend and I thought to myself – I’m going to do nothing but sleep and eat takeout. But the very first day of the weekend, Arlo woke me up and went back to sleep and I couldn’t sleep again. So I decided to make something special for breakfast. At first I thought I would make vadas, but I didn’t have enough oil for deep frying, so I gathered all the veggies in the fridge and ended up making veggie filled saimya upma.

Saimya is Vermicelli that is very famous as a breakfast option in my house. My dad used to hate it but we would love it as they looked like broken noodles. If mom had the time she would chop up all the veggies in the fridge and use them to make upma. We liked it anyway mom made Vermicelli. When I came to the US, I stopped making it for a while since we don’t have Indian breakfast. South Indian breakfasts have been a rare treat before Arlo, but now we have it all the time. They remind me so much of mom and my mother-in-law. When we are visiting them, they make sure that there we have heavy meals. My mother-in-law makes the best fried food and my mom makes the best healthy food. So there is a balance when we go there. I’m not a fan of fried food, but my mother-in-law’s vada’s are to die for, they are just that amazing. So here is how I make saimya upma.

Ingredients

Onions – 1/2 diced as thin as possible

Carrots – 1 medium sized, diced as thin as possible

Peas – 1/4 cup

Potato – 1 small, diced as thin as possible

Green Chillies – 5 or 6 slit vertically

Curry Leaves – 3 or 4

Turmeric – 1/4 teaspoon

Vermicelli (Saimya) – 2 cups

Salt – As required

Water – 2 and a half cups

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Channa Dal – 2 tablespoons

Urad Dal – 2 tablespoons

Peanuts – a handful

Mustard Seeds – 1 teaspoon

Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon

How To Make

Step 1: In a pan, once hot add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the channa dal and urad dal. As they start to change color add the mustard seeds and the peanuts. Once the mustard seeds start spluttering add the cumin seeds and the curry leaves.

Step 2: Stir in the curry leaves a bit and add the green chilies, onions and the rest of the vegetables. Mix it a bit and keep stirring every 2 minutes until the potato becomes a bit soft.

Step 3: Add turmeric and salt, mix it up good and now add the water. Once the water starts boiling, add the vermicelli, place a lid on the pan and reduce the stove to a low.

Step 4: Turn it off in 8 minutes and leave it for 2 minutes before opening the lid. Mix it a little and serve it hot with sugar or coconut chutney.

Print Recipe

Saimya Upma

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 1/2 Medium Onion sliced as thin as possible
• 1 Medium Carrot sliced as thin as possible
• 1/4 cup Peas
• 1 small Potato sliced as thin as possible
• 5 Green Chilies slit vertically
• 5 Curry Leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1 tablespoon Salt (or as required)
• 2 and a half cups Water
• 2 tablespoons Oil
• 2 tablespoons Channa Dal
• 2 tablespoons Urad Dal
• 5 tablespoons Peanuts (I used a handful)
• 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
• 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 20 minutes Servings people Ingredients 1/2 Medium Onion sliced as thin as possible 1 Medium Carrot sliced as thin as possible 1/4 cup Peas 1 small Potato sliced as thin as possible 5 Green Chilies slit vertically 5 Curry Leaves 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric 1 tablespoon Salt (or as required) 2 and a half cups Water 2 tablespoons Oil 2 tablespoons Channa Dal 2 tablespoons Urad Dal 5 tablespoons Peanuts (I used a handful) 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

Recipe Notes

Step 1: In a pan, once hot add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the channa dal and urad dal. As they start to change color add the mustard seeds and the peanuts. Once the mustard seeds start spluttering add the cumin seeds and the curry leaves.

Step 2: Stir in the curry leaves a bit and add the green chilies, onions and the rest of the vegetables. Mix it a bit and keep stirring every 2 minutes until the potato becomes a bit soft.

Step 3: Add turmeric and salt, mix it up good and now add the water. Once the water starts boiling, add the vermicelli, place a lid on the pan and reduce the stove to a low.

Step 4: Turn it off in 8 minutes and leave it for 2 minutes before opening the lid. Mix it a little and serve it hot with sugar or coconut chutney.

Po

 

Tips:

1. You can skip all the veggies and just add the water after using the green chilies and make it plain saimya upma.
2. You can subsitute saimya with dailya (broken wheat rava) or bombay rava (semolina or sooji) but the water for both is 2:1 (water 2 and rava 1)

Po