One would ponder what the connection is of a Violin with Upma, a southern Indian traditional breakfast, mostly made from Semolina. Maybe nothing, maybe everything… I did not grow up in southern India, but if I were to picture a southern household in my mind, it would be the early morning sounds of the carnatic vocals, sweet sound of violin music and the aroma of the roasting of upma rava, all blending together.
My personal connection is that my daughter is a violinist, and she does not like upma, but it happens to be one of my favorite breakfast meals. So in order to appease her, I thought if I make violin-shaped upmas, she might warm up to the idea of eating them, and I would bring the cultural element to the food too! Violins, as we see in the western world today, has evolved from traditional string instruments in India, per Kala Ramnath an accomplished violinist. Though the technique of playing an Indian violin and Western Violin is different and a concert of the these two different styles of violins being played together would be amazing to hear!
I decided to experiment a bit and try cucumber ranch dressing with the upma, instead of the plain yogurt and liked the combination. It might just become a new appetizer dish! The traditional shape is a round shape, which has also been shown in the pic and the traditional color is white. The red/brown color is from the roasting of rava and tomatoes to give it a violin look. When my daughter saw the upma violins and commented “Oh Mom, thats so cute!!”, it made me smile!
Recipe : 3 people or approx 16 violin shapes
Cooking time : 10 min
Preparation time: 7 min
Ingredients by Volume
- 2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp urad dal(black lentil unskinned)
- 1 cup rava( semolina)
- 6-8 pieces of broken cashews
- 4 curry leaves
- 1 1/2 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1tbsp yogurt
- 2 small tomatoes
- 2 cups water
- salt to taste ( 3/4 tbsp salt approx.)
- sugar 1 tbsp (optional)
- 1/2 onion finely diced( optional)
- violin cookie cutter
Method
- Heat the ghee in a broad pan on a medium flame.
- Add mustard seeds, wait for them to crackle.
- Add green chillies.
- Add crushed curry leaves.
- Add urad dal and saute till golden brown.
- Add semolina rava, mix it and stir till light pink in color.
- Add salt and optional sugar and diced tomatoes and stir for couple of minutes.
- Add 2 cups of water
- Mix the water into rava, and let it cook, stirring in between.
- When the mixtures starts to thicken and leaves the edges, it is done.
- Making it in round shape – Use a small container, fill it with the cooked upma, set it for a minute, invert it and release it on a plate. If it sticks, grease the container with melted ghee.
- Making a violin shape – Wait for it to cool for five minutes. Then spread it into a round flat shape like a pizza base, which is about a 1/3″ thick. Using Violin shaped cookie cutter, make violin cutouts, gently releasing the upma from the violins. Repeat the process, till the mix is consumed.
- Serve it with plain yogurt, coconut chutney or cucumber ranch.
Tips
Using a thick bottom pan, would help roast rava better, without it burning. Releasing from the moulds needs some skill, but if it breaks, you can easily fix it too as it is soft enough to shape well.
If planning to serve as an appetizers, the violins shapes can be cut and made ready before hand, heated up in a microwave and topped with dressing at the time of serving.
Instinct Factor
Pink color of rava, to your liking. If it becomes dark brown, you are burning it, and watch closely as it can change color fast.
Feel Factor
When eating with a cucumber ranch, the rava upma combines well with the sour yogurt based dip and its mild ranch flavor, that can be easily be served as an appetizer/starter. The tomato skins gave it a nice wood grain look, that is found on the violins.
A yogurt accompaniment gives you the satisfaction of having a comfort meal in a tomato flavor. Roasted cashews, curry leaves and crunchiness of black lentils create an interesting contrast to the creamy texture of semolina.
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