Arisi (Kurunai) Upma

Is this something to do with the weather? I have started justifying the word Couch Potato. I am literally lying on the sofa doing nothing the whole day! And you know what? Sometimes, it is fun! Once in a while I pamper myself with this eat-something-do-nothing phase..

Coming to the recipe, Arisi Kurunai Upma is a complete, wholesome meal by itself. Arisi Kurunai is nothing but broken rice. It is also called as "Noi" in tamil. As for preparation of this broken rice, a simple procedure would be to :

Wash the rice and drain it completely. Leave it for half an hour and then pulse (remember not to grind) it in the mixer twice or thrice. This helps in getting a coarse texture.

Over to our recipe..

Arisi Kurunai Upma
Broken rice tempered with mild spices
Serves 2
What we need:
Broken rice - 1.5 cups
Moong dal - 2 tbsp.
Water - 3 cups
Coconut, scraped - 3 to 4 tbsp.
Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp.
Cumin (jeera) - 1 tbsp.
Urad dal - 1 tbsp.
Chana dal - 1 tbsp.
Dry Red Chilli - 2 or 3
Salt - according to taste
Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry leaves - a sprig
Coconut oil / Cooking oil - 1 tbsp.

How to do:
1. Soak the moong dal in warm water for 10 to 20 minutes. If using store-bought broken rice, wash it well.
2. In a deep-bottomed vessel or pressure cooker, heat a tbsp. of oil and add mustard seeds.
3. When it crackles, add cumin, urad dal, chana dal, red chillies, curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida.
4. When the dal turns light brown, add 3 cups of water and salt as needed.
5. When water starts boiling, add the broken rice, soaked moong dal and coconut scrapes.
6. Cover with a lid and cook until the rice is done. It should take around 15 minutes. If using pressure cooker, let it give out 2 to 3 whistles.

Garnish with fresh curry leaves if desired and serve with chutney / Gothsu (recipe follows). IMHO, it tastes best with a dash of pickle! To impress the kids, all you have to do is shape them into nice round balls! Like this!
T&T Ginger Rasam from A2Z Vegeterian Cuisine:
Rasam is indeed a comfort food for most of us. That too, with a running nose and sore throat, nothing can be more filling as a warm bowl of rasam! Ginger is also an effective ingredient to send sore throat packing (Remember the vicks ad, where the sore-throat-devil gets chased away!) So when the lovely ladies @ A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine came up with this Ginger rasam, I bookmarked it and tried it almost immediately. I strictly prohibited myself from making any alterations to the original recipe. Man, flu or no flu, it was so wonderful! Thank you dearies, for the yummy rasam!

Now, competing the shower of snow outside my window, is the shower of awards in my blog. Sorry buddies, I am very late in acknowledging some of them.
Swarna passed on to me
Devi, Sowmya, Indu (a.k.a) kitchen queen shared with me
Sowmya also showered me with
Thank a ton friends, it means a lot to me!
See you all soon with another interesting post! Till then, Happy Cooking and Happy Blogging!