உப்புமா is a breakfast dish. It should be served hot and can be eaten with banana or a curry like பருப்பு (parrupu).  Actually I am not too sure how it should be eaten. So I am going to publish this post and then ask facebook and instagram peeps how they eat உப்புமா.

There is a variation to this dish in which you add a whole lot of vegetables – eggplant, leek, potatoes, ginger etc.

This is the basic recipe as recorded in ‘Recipes of the Jaffna Tamils’ pg 12.

INGREDIENTS  (Serves 3/4)
1 cup semolina
2 cups water
2 dessertspoons ghee or gingerly oil
1 dried red chilli, broken into pieces
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp slip black gram (urud dal)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 green chillies, sliced fine
5-8 curry leaves, cut fine
1 tsp salt
1 tiny pice asafoetida, dissolved or 1/4 tsp powdered asafoetida (optional)

1. Dry roast semolina on low heat for about 10 mins. Semolina should just start to turn golden.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add dried chilli pieces, mustard seed and split black gram.
3. Add chopped onion, green chillies and curry leaves. Stir for a minute or so until onion softens.
4. Add water, salt and asafoetida. Bring to boil.
5. Add semolina, a little at a time, stirring constantly so as to not form lumps.
6. Remove and transfer to a serving dish. Press and cover for about 5 minutes. Lift the lid and give the உப்புமா a stir and serve warm.

Sometimes the உப்புமா can be pressed into small bowls and overturned onto a plate to form little mounds before serving.

Optional: 2 teaspoons of lime/lemon juice can be added to the உப்புமா for tang vibes.