Oat Barn Upma

Healthy eating and me never go hand in hand. I like all the fried savoury food, cakes and pastries, chocolates and ice-creams. I also have the indomitable sweet tooth of mine, which always keeps me hunting for sweet little things to eat or to drink.

Generally people visit Starbucks for a cup of coffee, but whenever I visit starbucks I try all the new cakes and pastries they have florid in their racks. Not a very big fan of coffee....sorry folks and can't even stand the smell of that filter coffee we get here. Many still keep on quizing me on how I pass my day in the office without a cup of black fluid drenched through my throat, and some people are really waiting to catch me dozing, red handed. But they dont know since last 4 years I have an infallible record.

So, to wash off the stigma on me, of not being cautious with what I eat or rather hog on, and to prove my health conscious friend, that I can work wonders even with things I detest, and here it refers to Oats, this weekend I made him Oat Meal Upma.

Things to be used:

1 cup oatmeal (grinded it into coarse powder) or else Oat Barn can also be used

1 cup curd

4-5 green chillies, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic and a few coriander leaves chopped

1 tbs of turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin seeds

2 tbs of oil for cooking

salt according to taste

1 cup warm water

Things to be done:

Roast the coarsely ground oatmeal powder for 10-15 min. Take care not to burn the powder.

Heat oil in the pan and add all the condiments and the seasoning, cook till the onions become light brown in colour. Pour in the oatmeal power and mix properly. Incorporate the Curd and keep on stirring, as curd makes it very sticky.

Pour in the warm water as and when required with continuous stirring.

Enough stirring and mixing in required so that there are no dry lumps of oats in the pan. Amount of water can be increased if the contents look too dry. Excess water is never a problem as most of it evaporates or is absorbed.

Add salt to taste.

My mother makes upma from Wheat flour, coz she thinks rava is not a conducive ingredient for health and good to be avoided as much as possible. And guess what my MIL also has same views and she never allows to have rava-dosa which I love of all the south-indian food.

My friend was obviously not able to guess what I cooked this upma of and was very impressed when he found out the reality.

This is my entry to WBB13-July at sweet Madhuli's, My FoodCourt.