Corn Meal Upma

          I have been seeing these corn meal packets for some time now, but bought it only a couple of months back. Though I have so many things, in my mind, to try out with it, this upma is the only dish that I have made with it till date. It is a change from the regular upma with semolina/ sooji/ cream of wheat, makes for a tasty breakfast or dinner. We had it with coconut-onion chutney, which went very well with it..

Need To Have

• Corn Meal - 1 cup
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Garlic - 5 cloves, chopped
• Fresh Or Frozen Green Peas - 1/2 cup
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Green Chillies - 2 sliced
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - to taste

Method

          Heat some oil in a pressure pan, add the mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the onions, garlic, green chillies and curry leaves and saute till the garlic turns golden.

          Add the corn meal and keep mixing for 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and green peas and keep sauteing for 2 to 3 minutes.

          Now add about 3 cups of water and salt, close the pressure pan with its lid and put on the weight. Cook for one whistle and then reduce the heat to the lowest, cook for 5 minutes and switch off. Once the pressure is fully released, remove and serve with any chutney or pickle.

Note
You can do the whole cooking in a regular vessel, might require a little more water and take a bit longer to cook, you have to keep checking for the water level and that it doesn't start sticking to the pan.
If your using an electric coil stove, switch off after the first whistle, the heat in the coil is more than enough.
You can add other vegetables like french beans, carrots or potatoes and also some roasted cashews for extra richness.
If the corn meal used is very fine, then it'll require less water and also get cooked faster, but I prefer the slightly coarse variety, gives a nice texture to the upma.