Penne Upma ( Pasta Indian Style )

This would have been an ideal entry for my blog- had I chosen to stick to the name "Fucine" for my blog. Fucine as in fusion cuisine. But then, my love for traditional Indian food, prevented me in going all out after fusion food.

Each morning, I wonder what do I make for breakfast. Oats / Cereal gets too boring at times. It just so happened that I had some left over boiled Penne pasta and Upma being one of the staple breakfasts at home- i decided to put the two together.

It's just like regular upma, where rawa is substituted by pasta. This recipe would serve two people and taken under 15 minutes to get done.

Ingredients :

2 cups boiled / leftover pasta (Penne/ Fucilli / Macaroni )

1 medium sized carrot-finely chopped

1 small onion finely chopped

2-3 springs-spring onions-finely chopped

10-12 French beans-finely chopped

Pinch of turmeric

8-10 Cashewnuts / Handful peanuts ( Optional)

For tempering: 1 tsp Udad dal, 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds (Rai), 1 tsp green chillies-finely chopped , 1/2 tsp ginger-finely chopped, Few curry leaves

1 tbsp Cilantro / coriander-finely chopped

1 tsp oil

Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat oil in non-stick pan. Add mustard seeds-once they pop, add udad dal,curry leaves, cashews, ginger, green chillies.
2.Once udad dal and cashews turn golden, add the vegetables, turmeric, salt. Sprinkle some water, and keep a lid on the pan so that the vegetables cook fast. This will take around 4-5 min.
3.Once the vegetables are cooked, add the boiled pasta, and toss around so that all the spices are evenly coated.
4. Take the pan off flame, garnish with coriander and serve piping hot.

A cup of filter coffee will give good company to this Penne Upma!