Corn dalia upma

 

A few months ago, I was browsing the aisles of my usual supermarket and found a new product. Always one up for trying anything new, I picked it up right away. Toying with several recipe ideas using the product, I finally decided to play safe and use it to make upma. Clicked pictures as usual and then put up a teaser on my facebook page inviting guesses on the ingredient used and the dish made. There were several close guesses. The first person to get the guess totally right was Lubna Karim who blogs at http://www.kitchenflavours.net. She was so happy to guess the correct ingredient with only the picture on the facebook page for a clue. I was awed by her guessing skills.

In honour, I am dedicating this blog post to Lubna Karim.

Lubna is a multi talented person, and so modest about it to boot. Loving wife, caring mom, super cook, amazing photographer, the list goes on…Lubna recently completed five years of food blogging - hearty congrats to you dear! Do head over to her blog for amazing recipes and pictures that entice you to try out each dish right away!

So the ‘new ingredient’ is Corn daliya – or Broken Corn Kernels similar to Broken Wheat. Also called corn grits in several parts of the world, it is either used to make polenta or cooked into a porridge. Here is how I used the corn frits to make upma that day. This quantity serves 5 - 6 people. Halve the measures to serve 2 – 3.

What’s good about Corn dalia?

Corn dalia, is a low cholesterol, low sodium cereal. Being gluten free, this dalia can replace wheat dalia in upma, khichdi, porridge or any dish – a boon for gluten intolerance disorders, such as Celiac diease, or even Malabsorption Syndrome.

Corn is a fair source of Calcium, Phosphorus and Iron too. The cereal has a better contribution to vitamin A and dietary fibre when compared to rice, wheat or oats.

You Need

1. Corn Dalia – 2 cups
2. Fresh drinking water – 6 cups
3. Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp
4. Red onion – 1/2 cup, chopped
5. Tomato – 1 cup, chopped
6. Carrot – 1 cup, grated
7. Green chilli – 3 - 4 finely chopped
8. Ginger – chopped, 1 tbsp
9. Curry leaves – 8 -10, torn roughly
10. Mustard seeds – 1 heaped tsp
11. Urad dal – 2 heaped tsp
12. Salt – 2 level tsp

To Assemble

1. Clean, and prepare vegetables as mentioned in ingredients list.
2. Measure out 6 cups of water and set to boil.
3. Heat oil in a broad kadai / heavy bottomed pan.
4. Add mustard seeds and urad dal.
5. When mustard crackles, add green chilli, ginger, curry leaves, saute for a minute.
6. Add onions tomatoes and the carrot. Stir fry for a minute on high flame.
7. Pour the boiling water into the kadai, add salt.
8. When the water reaches a rolling boil, pour the measured corn dalia in a steady stream into the pan. Keep stirring steadily to avoid any lumps.
9. After all the dalia is incorporated into the water, simmer and cover the pan with a fitting lid. Let cook on the lowest flame for 12 – 14 minutes.
10. Fluff up and serve with onion raita or chutney of choice.

Notes

• Corn Dalia cooks for longer than wheat dalia, so the same upma can be assembled in a pressure cooker also.
• Other interesting uses could be in recipes like khichdi, bisi bele bhath, corn bread, porridge, soups.