Vegetable Semolina Upma

📝 Ingredients

• 120 g fine semolina
• 400 ml water
• 1 brown onion (about 100 g)
• 1 carrot (about 100 g)
• 80 g frozen peas
• 10 g fresh ginger
• 1 tsp cumin seeds + ¼ tsp turmeric
• 30 g unsalted roasted peanuts
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• ½ lemon
• 200 g 0% natural yoghurt (to serve)
• Salt

🍴 Utensils

• Large sauté pan with lid
• Saucepan
• Wooden spatula
• Grater
• Cutting board and knife
• Bowl

📖 Steps

1. Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel the carrot and cut it into small 5 mm dice so it cooks quickly. Peel and grate the ginger. Bring the water to a simmer in a saucepan with ½ tsp salt and keep it hot.
2. Tip the semolina into the dry sauté pan, with no fat, over a medium heat. Stir it constantly for 4 to 5 min, until it smells of toasted biscuits and turns very lightly golden. Transfer it to a bowl straight away, or it will keep browning.
3. Dry-roast the peanuts in the same sauté pan for 2 to 3 min, stirring, until fragrant and lightly golden. Set aside, then roughly chop them with a knife.
4. Heat the oil over a medium heat and add the cumin seeds: when they sizzle and release their aroma (about 30 seconds), immediately add the onion and ginger. Fry for 4 min until the onion is translucent, without letting it burn.
5. Add the carrot, the still-frozen peas and the turmeric. Cook for 4 min, stirring often, until the carrot starts to soften but still has a little bite.
6. Pour in the hot salted water and bring to the boil. Lower to a gentle heat, then sprinkle in the semolina with one hand while stirring briskly with the other to avoid lumps. Keep stirring for 1 to 2 min: the mixture thickens quickly.
7. Cover and cook for 3 min over a very low heat, then 2 min off the heat without lifting the lid. The semolina should be tender and soft, neither runny nor dry. Fluff it up with a fork, adjust the salt and drizzle with the juice of the ½ lemon.
8. Divide the piping-hot upma between two bowls, scatter with the chopped peanuts and serve with the natural yoghurt on the side, which adds freshness and protein.