prem@eagle.UUCP (Swami Devanbu) (01/17/85)
Uppuma - A south Indian sunday morning food. Better known as "Oh no, amma, not that". Favourite fast food. Usually made by harried housewives who have to make morning coffee/tea for all, boil water for everyone to have a bath, read the bible, get dressed in a fine silk saree, herd the children out of bed and into their sunday best, all between 6 AM and 8:30 AM, when you have to run out to catch the standing room only Bus, where you spend the next 30 minutes bouncing off to church, dodging the fresh fish leaping out the fisherwomen's baskets, and trying to ignore the drunks singing and throwing up in the back. Keeping uppuma down is hard even without these trials and tribulations. Well, it takes only 15 minutes to make, and kids hate it, since its a clumpy mess, and you always associate it with spending 2 hours being bored in church for no good reason. Ever heard a sermon in Tamil ? Well, be glad. (For 4 hungry souls) 1 1/2 cups 10 minute cream of wheat. 3-4 tbsps minced ginger (1 mm Cubes) 1 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped shallots 1 Tbsp chopped Jalapeno 1 Tbsp mustard seed 1 Tbsp urad dhal 1 Cup minced coriander leaves. dry red chillies. Salt. In a wok, toast the cream of wheat until it browns and smells toasty. Reserve. Heat up some oil, throw in a couple of dry red chilies to clear the air, throw in the mustard and urad dhal, cover, and allow a minute or two for the commotion to subside. Then add salted onions & shallots fry until carmelized. During the last 2 or minutes of this, add ginger. Then add the leaves, stir for 2 minutes, add 3-4 cups of water, depending on how mushy you like it, and add the jalapeno. Cover and let boil. Then add the toasted COW, stir until cooked (3-4 minutes), remove, and serve. Why americans like this, when they can be eating Hershey's kisses, will always remain a mystery to some.