If you are wondering what does ‘upma’ means, then you can either do a wiki search and read everything about it, or for a shorter version, you can continue reading this post.  It is predominantly consumed as a breakfast or dinner dish, intending to keep it light and still provide the necessary carbs.  You can make upma with either rava (cream of wheat aka. semolina) or with vermicilli (uniformly sized not-twisted noodles?, I really donno).  You can buy plain or roasted vermicilli in any of the indian grocery, in case if this interests you.   Upma ceases to be a favorite dish for most of the kids, not sure why.  My mother would make this super-delicious upma, filled with vegetables and the taste is simple and soo good, that I never complained even if served for all the three meals in a day.

Make it:

* About 1 cup of vermicilli, if not roasted, roast in med-low flame with a tsp of oil for about 4-5 mins constantly mixing.
* 1 onion vertically cut
* 4-5 green chillies slit as per desired spice level
* 1/2 inch ginger finely chopped
* about 1 cup of vegetables cut into small pieces ( i used a mix of beans, carrots and potato)
* indian spices for tempering such as mustard, jeera
* 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

In a wide pan, add 3 tbps of oil, add the mustard + jeera and once they start to pop, add the green chilli + onion + ginger and fry for about 3 minutes in medium flame.  To make this quicker, you can microwave the veggies for about 3-4 minutes.  Add the veggies, a pinch of turmeric powder and mix them together, add about 2 cups of water and salt and bring everything to a boil.   Once the water starts to boil completely,  simmer and add the vermicilli noodles, mix it in and cover the pan with the lid and let it cook for about 8-10 minutes.   Remove the lid and check the noodles to see whether it is cooked and there is no water remaining.   Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.