Pappu Upma & Allam Pachadi ~ Moong Dal and Rice Sooji Upma with Ginger Chutney

I know how boring it is to have same old Idly and Dosa for breakfast almost everyday. My moms Pappu Upma and Allam Pachadi aka Rice Ravva( rice couscous ) cooked with moong dal(lentils ) served with Ginger and chilli chutney comes to the rescue .This pappu upma is flavored with ginger, cashew nuts, and green chillies and is packed with lots of protein from the lentils. Mom usually serves this Ravva pappu upma along with sweet and spicy ginger chutney. Ginger has been used for ages for its medicinal benefits. Its aids in digestion and suppresses cold and cough a lot. Mom tries to use ginger in her cooking a lot. In curries, chutneys, and breakfasts like upma, pongal etc. Since this tiffin ( recipe ) is loaded with protein from Moong dal and flavored with fresh ginger, pregnant women can have as much as they want. I remember, mom made this for me whenever i ask for Upma( when i was pregnant ). And the best part its very easily digested.

I could not find this ravva( rice couscous ) here in Indian stores, so mom usually sends this to me. If you want to try making this ravva at home, this is how mom makes biyyapu ravva, you need to soak the rice in water for a couple of hours and then spread out on a cloth and let it air dry, once dried grind to coarse grain (should look like couscous ). I know its a long process, and to be frank i never made the ravva from scratch, mom sends me every time. If you are lucky enough to find this ravva in your Indian grocery store, get some and try this upma. I promise, you wont regret!.

Ingredients for Pappu Upma:

• 1 cup Rice Ravva / Biyyam Ravva / Rice Couscous
• 1/4 cup Moong Dal / Pesara pappu / Split green gram
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 inch grated ginger root
• 4-6 green chillies
• 4 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp chana dal
• 10-15 cashew nuts
• 10 curry leaves

Preparation Of Dal and Sooji Upma:

• In a heavy sauce pan, add oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chana dal and cashew nuts.
• As the mustard seeds start to crackle, add curry leaves, ginger green chillies, water and moong dal
  
• Once the dal is cooked, add salt and stir in the rice ravva / rice sooji making sure no lumps are formed.
• Reduce the heat and close the lid.
  
• Once the water has been absorbed completely and the ravva cooked, remove from heat and finish with cilantro( optional )

Ingredients for Sweet Ginger Chutney:

• 4-6 green chillies
• a big lemon sized soaked tamarind
• grated gur / jaggery / bellam or sugar to taste
  
• 1 inch peeled ginger
• salt
  

Note: Play with the ingredients for the chutney to suit your palette.

Seasoning for Ginger chutney:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 6 curry leaves

Preparation Of Sweet and Sour Ginger Chutmey:

• In a blender add all the chutney ingredients and grind to a smooth paste
• For tempuring or tadka, in a kadai/pan heat oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal and once they start to crackle add curry leaves and add the popu/tempuring to the chutney
• You can store this chutney in the refrigerator for upto 3 days.

Usually regular sooji upma tastes good when its right off the stove, but this pappu upma taste delish even when cold and stays good for upto 2 days in the fridge. If you are planning to have it within 24 hrs, you dont need to keep it in the refrigerator.

Moms Rice ravva sooji upma with lentils and ginger chutney is on its way to:

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