Vegan Jowar Rava Upma Recipe

Best served with Karuvepilai Thuvaiyal (Curry Leaves Chutney)! Upgrade to food that loves you back.

Whole Food Plant Based Jowar Rava Upma Recipe

Course: Course 3: Grain Dish for Lunch & Dinner Meals, Millet Dishes
Cuisine: Tamil Recipe from South India
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4 People

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Jowar Rava / Sorghum Semolina
2 Onions
1 tbsp Urad Dal
1 tbsp Bengal Gram Dal
1 inch piece Ginger peeled & chopped
1 small Green Chili chopped
1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 pinch Asafoetida
10 Curry Leaves
2 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped
4 tsp Miso Paste (Healthy Salt Alternative. See Nutrition Science Highlights below)
1 tbsp Almonds, powdered

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Roast the mustard, urad dal and bengal gram dal separately. Ensure you keep stirring while roasting as you will not have any oil to keep them from charring. Roasting them separately, is also towards this. Ensure to roast them minimally, only until they start sputtering or turn light brown. Once done, keep aside. See Nutrition Science Highlights below for details.
2. Chop green chili, peel and chop ginger and onion.
3. Heat 2 cups of water in a kadai or thick bottomed vessel with chopped green chili and chopped ginger.
4. When the water comes to a boil, add jowar rava / sorghum semolina slowly. Mix and keep covered on sim until cooked. Stir once in a while to ensure it does not get burnt.
5. Once done, remove on to a plate, mix in miso paste, asafoetida / perunkaayam, black pepper powder, and roasted mustard and dals, and wait until they are completely cool.
6. Once cooled, garnish with powdered almonds, coriander leaves, and curry leaves. Serve Fresh!

Plant Based Chef Pro Tips

1. Serve with sambar and chutney, moist or watery dishes, to compensate for the dry nature of the jowar rava upma.

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Pidi Kozhukattai Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why whole grains? Whole grains are healthier than refined grains such as white rice, refined flours, maida, rava, etc., as the bran layer is intact, with all its vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Whole grains have been found to be protective against a whole range of chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and lifestyle-related cancers.
3. Why cool grains? When cooked grains are allowed to cool on the counter or in the fridge, the starch crystallises to form resistant starch. This can be eaten by our good gut bacteria and also reduces the glycemic index (the rate at which glucose is absorbed), making the whole grain even healthier. For the same reason, parboiled whole grains can be used as well.
4. Why not tadka? Tadka, thaaLippu, oggaraNe. Tempering spices in oil is quintessential to Indian cuisine. This practice may have started as a compromise when whole nuts were unavailable, and indeed, is more common in inland, drier areas where nuts do not grow easily, all year round. You can enjoy the taste and fragrance, though, by just dry roasting the spices you require, without the oil, or even better, mixing spice powders directly into your dish!