Steel-cut Oats Upma – Savory Breakfast for Health

While I sometimes vary on whether I want a sweet or savory breakfast, savory is usually my preferred option.  And I feel that no one does savory breakfast quite like South Indian cuisine, which has a range of fantastic vegetarian breakfast items, from idli to dosa to upma.

Upma is a wheat-flour based dish that incorporates many of the standard tempering spices and vegetables used in South Indian food generally.  It can be a great one-pot meal that I wanted to make even healthier by incorporating steel-cut oats – an approach used by some of my cousins.  My thought was that if I get this recipe right, it could be my new weekday breakfast that I could prepare on Sundays for the entire week (taking from a NY Times recommendation to cook a pot of steel-cut oats on Sunday to last until Friday).  

My first attempt at steel-cut oats upma was pretty good, though not great.  I think I should have added curry leaves to add a bit more complexity of flavor; used maybe 1/2 onion instead of a full one; and perhaps should have shredded the carrot instead of chopping it, for more textural consistency.  I'll report back as I continue to refine the recipe, but in the mean time, I think the following recipe will result in a pretty good, spicy and filling make-ahead breakfast.

Steel-cut Oats Upma

Ingredients:

• 1 carrot diced
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 green chile, sliced
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 tsp ginger, minced
• 1 cup steel cut oats, roasted
• 3 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp mustard seed
• 1.5 tsp urad dal
• 1.5 tsp channa dal
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tbsp grapeseed or vegetable oil

Directions:

• Heat a small pot on medium heat, and dry roast the oats until fragrant with a nutty smell – approx. 2 – 4 minutes.

• Place oats in separate bowl to cool, and use same pot to heat oil on medium heat.
• When hot, add spices and stir mixture periodically.  When mustard seeds begin to pop, add the ginger, chile and onion.  When the onion is translucent (approx. 4 minutes), add the tomato and carrot.  Cook down for 4 – 5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to break down.

• Then add oats, coating oats in vegetable and spice mixture.  Add water, salt and turmeric and bring to a boil.

• When boiling, turn down heat to low and cover the pot.  
• Cook for approx. 40 minutes, stirring every ten minutes or so, or until the oats are cooked down to your liking.  
• Add additional salt and pepper to taste before serving.