Pori Upma/ Mandakki Oggarane/ Puffed Rice Upma

Last week during our trip to Shirdi, we stayed at Adhoni one night. In the morning, when we started our journey, we stopped at a small village to have tea. I don't know the name of the village but the tea was very nice. They served it in a very small disposable tumbler. While having tea, the person was also serving breakfast to others. My hubby also bought a parcel. He didn't listen to the name of the dish. When I opened there was this upma prepared with puffed rice along with green chilly bajjis. Until that day I have never tasted both the dishes. At first I was somewhat afraid to eat that bajji as there was a whole green chilly inside. But when tasted it was absolutely delicious. The upma was also very nice. When I returned back and was going through the entries to WTML last month, I saw the recipe for puffed rice upma at Swasthi's blog. I couldn't beleive my eyes. She also mentioned about the green chilly bajji and it is a famous dish in North Karnataka. I tried it out immediately. I adapted her recipe according to our taste and the bajji was a great accompaniment to the upma. I prepared it for dinner and we both enjoyed a hearty meal.

Recipe Source: Swasthi

Ingredients:

Puffed Rice/ Pori-200gm

Onion-2

Tomato-1

Green Chilly-4

Coriander Leaves-3tbs

Oil-1tbs

Mustard Seeds-1tsp

Urad Dhal-1tsp

Asafoetida/ Hing-1/4tsp

Turmeric Powder-1/2tsp

Salt-to taste

Roasted Gram Powder-1/4cup (porikadalai podi)

Procedure:

1. Chop onions, tomato, green chilly and coriander leaves.

2. Heat oil and add mustard, urad dhal and hing.

3. When they crackle add onion and green chillies and saute for 2 minutes on medium flame until golden brown.

4. In a large pan add water and puffed rice. Wash it and drain water. Fill water again and drain it again. This is to make the puffed rice soft. Do not soak as it will make the dish mushy.

5. Add tomatoes and saute until they are well cooked and mushy.

6. Add salt, and turmeric powder and give a nice stir.

7. Add the soft puffed rice and give a nice mix until all the ingredients are well combined.

8. Finally add the roasted gram powder and coriander leaves, give a nice stir and serve hot along with green chilly bajjis and curd.