Dalia upma is an easy to make and extremely nutritious breakfast option which will keep you energetic throughout the day due to its high fibre content.
If you are bored of your daily milk and cereal breakfast but still sticking to it only because it’s the quickest thing to make in the morning, I would suggest keeping a packet of dalia or broken wheat handy to make a scrumptious bowl of dalia upma for breakfast which will not only make you happy but also keep you up and running the entire day! Just keep it ready the night before and instead of adding cornflakes to milk in the morning, reheat your bowl of dalia and you are all set to go! Dalia is yet to get the love and respect it deserves for the amount of nutrition and health benefit it offers; but once you make this dalia upma with all your favorite veggies, you too will fall in love with this wonder food like us!
I had discovered dalia long back during my childhood when my grandma use to eat it during some particular days involving few rituals. After an entire day of fasting, dalia was the most appropriate choice for her as it would give the necessary strength through its fibre which was much needed after a long gap between your meals. My grandma passed her dalia upma recipe to my mum and after learning it from my mum, I am carrying it forward. I will be more than delighted to keep it alive long after I am gone! This recipe of dalia upma is easy and fast due to the use of pressure cooker. It has saved our dinner multiple times on insanely hectic weekdays. You can avoid using pressure cooker if you don’t have one and make it in a saucepan or wok, just cover and cook on low until the dalia is completely cooked which would take close to 30 minutes on an average, but keep checking in between.
Being an Indian, I know the usefulness of pressure cooker which has proved to be a savior in more than many occasions. Be it for cooking potatoes super quick or boiling the dals, we Indians can hardly survive in kitchen without this nifty little gadget! While making dalia upma, again this pressure cooker is the optimum cookware option. There was a time when I had gone a little overboard with my pressure cooker collection and eventually have piled up a little too many than what might be practically required. But you know us crazy home cooks! We really go off the mark when it comes to kitchen equipment, but let me save that story for a different day because if I start, this post will be endless!
Coming back to dalia upma; this is not a very strict recipe. It has got few favorite veggies of mine – carrot, green beans and peas; plus the toasted cashews which add extra crunch in every bite. You just go crazy with your favorite vegetables – broccoli will be quite good with this as well as some multi-colored capsicums. If you use either broccoli or capsicum, I would suggest stir-frying them in a skillet instead of adding them into the pressure cooker; otherwise they may turn too mushy and lose all their crunch. Then once the dalia upma is cooked as per the instructions (upto Step 8), add the sautéed broccoli and/or capsicums to the pressure cooker and give a good mix using a spatula or wooden spoon. The heat in the dalia will continue to cook the broccoli and capsicums but without making them too mushy.
Hope you will give this dalia upma a try and don’t forget to let us know how it turned out. We are waiting!
- Dalia/broken wheat/bulgur wheat – 1 cup
- Mustard/vegetable oil – 3 tbsp
- Cashew nuts – 10 to 15, broken into half
- Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
- Hing/asafetida – ¼ tsp
- Dry red chili – 2, broken into half
- Carrot – 2, medium, cut into 1 inch long thin strips
- Green beans – 10 to 15, cut into ½ inch long pieces
- Green peas – ¼ cup
- Green chili – 2, chopped
- Ginger paste – 2 tsp
- Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
- Sugar – ½ tsp
- Salt to taste
- Ghee/clarified butter – 2 tbsp
- Freshly chopped coriander leaves to garnish
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small skillet/frying pan. Add the broken cashew nuts and fry them until golden brown. Take them out and set aside.
- Wash the dalia with tap water for couple of times and drain all the water out after final rinse. Set aside.
- Heat the remaining oil in a pressure cooker. Once the oil is hot, temper it with hing, dry red chilies and cumin seeds. Let the spices crackle and become fragrant for 30 seconds.
- Next add the chopped carrots, green beans and green peas. Sauté them on medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes until light golden and glossy.
- Then add the chopped green chilies and ginger paste and sauté until the raw smell of ginger is gone.
- Add the turmeric powder, sugar and salt to taste. Cook the spices with a splash of water to avoid burning.
- Now add the rinsed dalia to the cooker. Stir thoroughly to coat all grains with spices as much as possible. Keep sautéing the dalia for good 5 to 8 minutes on low heat.
- Then add about 2 cups of water and stir everything well. Cover the cooker lid and pressure cook on high until the first whistle. After the very first whistle, reduce the flame to minimum and cook until another 2 whistles. Then shut the flame off and let the cooker release its pressure on its own. It will take about 15 minutes.
- After the pressure is vented out, uncover the lid and give a stir with a spatula or wooden spoon. Check and adjust for seasoning if needed.
- Finally drizzle the ghee on top and sprinkle the golden fried cashew nuts. Serve the dalia upma hot with a garnish of freshly chopped coriander leaves. Enjoy!
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