UPMA made of leftover IDLIs

IDlis are sometimes boring!!! at times there is extra left or left over from morning breakfast and no one in house wants to have it in there plate. We wont face this in an Tamil family where Idlis are loved but what if we make another dish out of it???, like Idli upma. Yes, I love idli upma that is being flavored with cumins (jeera), carrot, beans and onions. Yummy Yummy evening snacks. Children will love it and also by big children who are in college but always on diet. Idli upma is low caloric with lots of veggies. Once decided to make, you can also include as many variety veggies as you want. Here is an easy evening snack.

Cooking time: 15 minutes
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Serves: 3

INGREDIENTS
Cooked idlis- 8-10
Carrots and beans- 1 cup together
Green chillies- 2-3 cut into 1 inch length pieces
Onions- 1 large, chopped


Tomatoes- 1 large, chopped
Salt to tase
Coriander leaves to garnish

To Temper
Mustard seeds- 1 table spoon
Cumin seeds- 2 table spoon
Urad dal and chana dal- 1 table spoon each
Oil to temper

PREPARATION
Cook idlis or if idlis are already cooked, make them into small pieces. sprinkle some salt and keep aside.
Cut beans and carrot into small pieces and cook them separate for 5 minutes in boiling water. drain water and keep aside.
In a hot pan, add oil followed by mustard seeds, green chillies, chana dal, urad dal and cumins (take care that cumins are not burnt in oil).
Add onions and saute them for 2 minutes following addition of tomatoes. Saute this for 2-3 more minutes until tomatoes becomes softer than earlier.
Now add cooked beans and carrot, mix and add idli pieces.
Give it a mix thoroughly so that idlis get mixed with vegetables.
Now taste salt and add accordingly as required.

Additional toppings: Coriander leaves to garnish, smashed chips or muruku - gives a crunchy effect, Ghee on top, Sweet corns and green peas, Cheese on top when kids love it.

NOTE: avoid green chilies and add tomato ketchup for kids snacks. It give a bit of tangling taste.

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HAPPY COOKING Le (Ladies) & Ge (Gentleman) :)

HALU SAARU/ MENASINA SAARU / RASAM MADE OF MILK

Thanks Lavanya for sharing this recipe. Halu saaru is a main dish made in winter, adding flavors of pepper, cumin and milk as the main ingredients which keeps body warm and away from cold related diseases. It is very traditional dish, which can be marked as mother-grandmother inherited saaru. This is similar to pepper saaru (pepper and jeera as main ingredients) but bit different because of addition of milk which gives a watery texture. I like to have rice with halu saaru when I am really bored of cooking and when I need simple, tasty dish which reminds me of my mother's style of cooking. Now here is the recipe

INGREDIENTS
Pepper - 8-10 corns
Cumin seeds/ jeera - 1 table spoon
Milk - 1 cup
Salt - as per taste

To Temper:
Oil/ Ghee - 2-3 table spoon
Mustard - 1 teaspoon
Red chillies - 1 or 2
Urad dal - 1 teaspoon
Channa dal - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 5-8 leaves

COOKING
In a round pot, add oil and mustard seeds, let it sputter.
Saute red chillies, curry leaves, followed by urad dal and channa dal
Add pepper corns and jeera (Cumin seeds) and allow on low heat for 2-3 minutes.
Add milk and allow for 1 boil and turn off the flame.
Add salt when it cools down or when its served.
Eat with hot rice and ghee on top which gives a very good taste of halu saaru.

NOTE: Salt should not be adding during the time of cooking halu saaru. Salt should be added only at the time of serving.
It you skip milk, its better be called as Menasina saaru (Pepper saaru) by adding 1 cup of water and salt as per taste.

HAPPY COOKING :)