Kuthiraivali Upma Recipe/Barnyard Millet Upma-Millet Recipes

Its been few weeks I posted a millet recipe in my blog. Last month I posted varagu idli, dosa recipe. After that, I couldn’t try any interesting recipes using millets. Nowadays I started trying some instant upma, kichadi recipes using millets. I will try to share them one by one here. Today I am sharing a simple and easy one pot upma recipe using Kuthiraivali/Barnyard millet. Kuthiraivali is called as barnyard millet in English, Jhangora in Hindi, Odalu in Telugu, Kavadapullu in Malayalam, Oodalu in Kannada. It has 6 times high fiber content when compared with wheat.Its a gluten free millet with high calcium, phosporous & fiber. It is high in carbohydrates & fat too. It improves metabolism.It helps to maintain the body temperature.It acts as a good anti oxidant too.

I usually make puli upma with kuthiravali. Recently I tried a plain upma recipe just like my noi arisi upma/broken rice upma.It came out very well. I served it with moong dal sambar and we loved that combo.Its a healthy replacement for our regular rice upma and tastewise there is no compromise at all. You can add finely chopped onions & vegetables to make it colorful and healthy. As it is an easy one pot meal,its an ideal recipe for working women & bachelors to prepare breakfast & dinner during busy morning hours or lazy & tired night hours. If you like the taste of this upma,u can experiment the same with other millets like samai, varagu and thinai too. Procedure, quantity of water and ingredients are one and the same.

Ok, Lets see how to make this healthy barnyard millet upma recipe in detail!
Check out my moong dal sambar here. It is the best side dish for this upma I feel. You can also have it with coconut chutney or thogayals.

Kuthiravali upma recipe

Kuthiravali upma recipe Barnyard millet upma-Healthy breakfast/dinner recipe using millets

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Millet recipes

Serves: 2

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup – 240ml

Barnyard millet/Kuthiravali – 1 cup
Water – 2.5cups
Salt – as needed

To temper

Coconut oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Urad dal – 2 tsp
Chana dal – 1 tbsp
Red chillies – 1 no ( pinched)
Green chillies – 2 nos ( slitted)
Curry leaves – few
Hing/Asafetida – 1/4 tsp
Ginger – 1 inch piece( chop finely)
Big onion – 1 no ( chop finely) optional
Mixed vegetables – 1/2 cup ( carrot, beans, potato and peas) Optional.

HOW TO MAKE KUTHIRAVALI UPMA – METHOD

Wash the millet and drain the water. Keep it aside. Chop the onions & vegetables finely if using.

Heat oil in a cooker base and add the coconut oil or any cooking oil. Coconut oil gives a nice flavor. After the oil is heated, splutter mustard seeds, urad dal and chana dal. Add the chillies, hing and few torn curry leaves. Saute well.( If using onions & vegetables, add in this stage and saute them for a minute). Now add the required water and salt.Add the finely chopped ginger pieces and few more curry leaves & 2 pinches of hing in the water. Adding raw ginger, curry leaves & hing will give a nice flavor to the upma. Now when the water starts to roll boil, check for taste and add more salt if needed.

Simmer the flame and add the washed millet. Mix well and close the cooker. Cook it for one whistle in low flame.Usually it takes 7-9 minutes in my cooker. Timings may vary though. Switch off after one whistle and open the lid after steam is released. Fluff the upma with a fork.
Do not mix it vigorously when the upma is hot because, upma will turn out mushy. So mix it gently. As the upma cools down, it will become separate and grainy. Enjoy with sambar/chutney or coriander leaves thogayal. My personal choice is sambar than chutney : ))

Enjoy !

Note

For variations, you can add finely chopped onions & some vegetables like carrot, beans, peas etc. It makes the upma colorful and healthy too.
Adding 2.5 cups of water gives a mushy look to the upma when it is hot. But it will turn separate and grainy as it cools down.

Check out my easy, one pot moong dal sambar here !

Enjoy making this easy, healthy one pot millet upma for your breakfast/dinner !