Samba Godhumai Kichdi/ Broken Wheat/ Dalia Upma

The key difference between the more common Rava Kichdi/Upma (also called as Bombay Rava) and this one is that Samba Wheat does not require to be pre-roasted before cooking while normal Rava must be roasted first in order to avoid becoming sticky and pasty! So, that's the 1st plus point! Next, this upma would taste awesome even without much veggies (just onions would suffice)! All these make this a popular dish on one of those weeknights you're totally exhausted and jus wanna eat something humble from your own kitchen!

Broken Wheat aka Dalia is also a great substitute for rice if you're looking to shed off some extra pounds! A relatively smaller quantity makes you feel full, and it's full of fibre! That essentially means you burn more calories! Isn't that good news? Now that I've got your attention, let's jump to the recipe quickly! :-)

Broken Wheat/ Samba Godhumai/Dalia

This is amma's recipe, so its simple yet tasty!

Yield - 2 to 3 persons

Prep time  + Cook time - 20 minutes

You Need -

Dalia/ Samba Godumai/ Broken wheat - 2 cups
Water - 4 and 1/2 cups
Salt - as per your taste (about 1 and 1/2 tsp)

Tempering -

Oil - 1 to 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Channa Dal - 2 tsp
Ginger - 1 inch (finely chopped)
Green chillies - 4 nos. (slit longitudinally)
Dry red chillies - 2 nos (broken into 2)
Curry leaves - a few
Asafoetida / Hing - 2 drizzles

For added taste, add one of the two

Onions - 2 (finely chopped)

                 OR

Coconut (fresh, grated ) - 1 handful or a little more

How To -

• Take a kadai, heat oil and let mustard seeds pop up. Then follow with rest of the ingredients and fry for 3 to 5 minutes. If you like onions, fry finely chopped onions at this stage.  Please skip the onions if you're planning to add coconut at the end.

• Now, to the same kadai, add water and let boil. Add salt as well.  Note that turmeric is not added for this Upma.

• Remember the ratio - For every cup of  broken wheat, add 2 and 1/4 cups of water.

• Once water starts boiling, add broken wheat/ samba godhumai/ dalia  and cook covered until all the water is absorbed. 

•  You could also microwave the whole thing - Transfer the tempering done into a large microwave-safe bowl, add water+broken wheat and cook for about 15minutes. The timing varies with the power of your microwave oven. Stir and cook until all the water is absorbed.

• Finally add freshly grated coconut and mix well. This is optional and dalia tastes awesome if you've added either onions (initially) or coconut (finally).

Upma ready!

Amma served it with Mor kuzhambu/Pulisseri and it was yummy!

This goes well with any kind of Sambar or Chutney.