Upma Just The Way I Like It, and Refrigerator Pickles

June is here and it has been oddly cool. Summer will heat up for sure, but for now, we are enjoying the temperate weather and the bluest of skies. Backyard gardens (of folks who garden, that is) are flourishing thanks to the recent rains. 

Running buddy K has a glut of cucumbers from her veg patch and is handing them out to all and sundry, and I was the grateful recipient of several homegrown pickling cucumbers. My kids love snacking on pickles, so I gathered up a bunch of jars and made some quick refrigerator pickles. 

I wrote a post 4 summers ago about making easy pickles at home. At that time, I used this recipe. This time, I used a similar recipe. The kids barely had the patience to let the cukes pickle overnight and polished them off in a day or two. If you're a fan of American-style pickles, I highly recommend giving this a try! 

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It is Saturday here, and we were at a friend's place for brunch this morning. I took some freshly-made upma. I struggle to explain upma to my friends- it is something of a savory porridge, a spicy semolina pudding, grits- adjacent...they love eating it, that's for sure.

I have a long-standing love for this humble breakfast dish. Back in 2008, I wrote a long post about it, comparing and contrasting the Southern Indian upma with the Maharashtrian version. A couple years later, I wrote a post about making it in the rice cooker. (The rice cooker is still going strong 16 years later!)

These days, I make upma, like I make most things, in the Instant Pot. When I started, I used this recipe as a reference for cooking times. When you eat upma in the home of a friend or relative, or in canteens and eateries, you notice the variations in seasoning and texture- it is definitely one of those dishes that is very easy to make but kind of hard to really nail and perfect. 

My favorite kind of upma is soft and porridge-like and buttery, where they serve it in mounds/scoops and it just melts in the mouth. The first thing that results in this texture is the high ratio of water to rava. And the other secret is the liberal use of butter or ghee! 👀

This morning, I managed to get the upma tasting just the way I like it, and wanted to note the recipe here for future reference. 

The recipe makes 6-8 servings, enough for a nice brunch with friends. The important thing is doing the set up, the mise en place, so that everything is ready to go. It sounds like a long recipe with many ingredients, but they are ingredients that are very standard in an Indian kitchen, and it all comes together very quickly.

Upma

• Set up the following
• "Onion and stuff" in one bowl
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1-2 tbsp. minced fresh ginger (or frozen, thawed)
• 1-2 sprigs curry leaves (I chop these up)
• 10-12 cashews, chopped (1/4 cup peanuts will also work)
• Veggies in another bowl
• I use about 2 cups total of any combo of chopped green beans, carrot, green peas, red peppers, etc.
• 1/4 cup tomato puree or a chopped fresh tomato
• 1.5 cups upma rava
• 4.5 to 5 cups water, on the stove top, heating to near-boiling point
• Heat 1 tsp. oil + 1 tbsp. ghee in the instant pot on saute mode
• Temper with 1 tsp. mustard seeds, when they pop, add 
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. urad dal
• 1 tsp. chana dal
• hefty pinch of asafoetida
• Add the "onions and stuff" and salt to taste, and stir for a couple of minutes
• Add the veggies and 1 tsp. rasam powder, and stir for a couple of minutes
• Add the upma rava and stir for a couple of minutes
• Add the nearly-boiling water, stir and pressure cook on HIGH for 2 minutes (the valve may not even come up- that is OK)
• Release pressure, and cover the instant pot for 5 minutes. This allows water to absorb.
• Add minced fresh cilantro and lemon juice and stir. Stir in a bit (or lots) of extra butter or ghee if you are feeling decadent. 
• Serve by itself, or with some crunchy sev/ chivda/ mixture!