Puli upma is one of the trademark recipe of my paternal grandmother. It is prepared with rice flour and tamarind (of course) and served with mor milagai (sun-dried chillies). It is a spicy and a tangy upma. This is also called as Thavittu upma.
In Kannada we call this as huri uppitu or huri hittu. Colloquially when someone asks why did you prepare for dinner they just say hittu huride (fried the flour is the exact transalation) but it refers to this upma. It does consume little extra oil and also time-consuming when compared to other upma. The major thing with this upma is you need to keep breaking the rice flour lumps and make it coarse basically from Dough to cornmeal consistency. But as the saying goes “No pain No gain” you need some time for this yummy recipe.
Ingredients:
- Rice flour – 1.5 cups
- Tamarind Paste – 3 tbsps
- Mor Milagai – 4
- Water – 1 cup + ¼ cup (if required)
- Salt – 1 tsp
- Oil – 1 tbsps + 3 tbsps
- Mustard seeds – 2 tsps
- Curry leaves – 1 strand
- Urad dal – 2 tsps
- Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
- Hing – 1 tsp
Steps:
- Add salt, turmeric powder and hing to the rice flour.
- Mix the 3 tbsps of tamarind paste to 1 cup of water.
- Slow add this water to the rice flour and mix well and form thick dough.
- Heat the kadai and add oil.
- Once the oil is hot add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.
- As they start to crackle add dough and start breaking it slowly.
- Initially it will be big lumps but keep stirring and break the dough. Instead of a ladle my grandma used to use the coconut stick from a fresh coconut leaf. (Advantage of having coconut tree in the backyard) I don’t have it year so I used the appe pan stick for break it. Here is my appe pan stick.
- During the breaking process add the remaining 2 tbsps of oil and if required add more. (We are frying the upma right?)
- The rice flour will start to absorb the oil and slowly it will start to brown up. As it starts to absorb the oil the raw taste goes and the color will change.
- If you want crispier upma, add more oil and cook it medium flame. I usually prefer it before it turns brown.
- Now in a separate kadai heat 1 tbsp of oil and fry the mor milagai.
- Crush them and add this to the upma and mix well.
That’s it. Puli upma is ready.
📖 Recipe
Puli Upma
Ingredients
- Rice flour - 1.5 cups
- Tamarind Paste - 3 tbsps
- Mor Milagai - 4
- Water - 1 cup + ¼ cup if required
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Oil - 1 tbsps + 3 tbsps
- Mustard seeds – 2 tsps
- Curry leaves – 1 strand
- Urad dal – 2 tsps
- Turmeric Powder - ½ tsp
- Hing - 1 tsp
Instructions
- Add salt, turmeric powder and hing to the rice flour.
- Mix the 3 tbsps of tamarind paste to 1 cup of water.
- Slow add this water to the rice flour and mix well and form thick dough.
- Heat the kadai and add oil.
- Once the oil is hot add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.
- As they start to crackle add dough and start breaking it slowly.
- Initially it will be big lumps but keep stirring and break the dough. Instead of a ladle my grandma used to use the coconut stick from a fresh coconut leaf. (Advantage of having coconut tree in the backyard) I don’t have it year so I used the appe pan stick for break it. Here is my appe pan stick.
- During the breaking process add the remaining 2 tbsps of oil and if required add more. (We are frying the upma right?)
- The rice flour will start to absorb the oil and slowly it will start to brown up. As it starts to absorb the oil the raw taste goes and the color will change.
- If you want crispier upma, add more oil and cook it medium flame. I usually prefer it before it turns brown.
- Now in a separate kadai heat 1 tbsp of oil and fry the mor milagai.
- Crush them and add this to the upma and mix well.
- That’s it. Puli upma is ready.
Notes
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Turned out so good.
I used a non stick pan and that made it easier to break it up.
Thanks a lot for the feedback. Glad it worked out weel.
This is lovely. I havenet yet made this
Thanks Veena. Please do try.
Rice flour upma is new to me. Sounds delicious.
Thanks Varada.
Rice flour upma is one of the toughest ones to crack because of the tedious stirring needed to reach the desired consistency. Your upma looks perfect.
Awww.. Thanks a lot Suma
This is beautiful Vidya. I have seen some recipes using rice rava, but achieving it with flour is awesome..
Thanks a lot Gayathri.
I love the addition of more milagai. I always beg my grandmother for the adi pidisal from the kadai :)
hey same pinch. I love that adi pidisal also.
new one for me – curious to see what the texture would be like
Thanks :-) It is little coarse though.
I like anything with puli ad this seems like a good breakfast candidate.
Thanks :-)
Very interesting upma recipe. Looks awesome.
Thanks a lot
we make puli Aval, and we make Puli upma (basically from tamarind / buttermilk)., but this Huri Upiittu is new :-)) nice one … we are all upma fans so might try this soon !
Thanks Kalyani.
Love this version of upma :-) YUMMY!
Thanks :-)
I almost forgot this recipe Sri..bbeen ages since I tried in home..thanks for reminfing
You are most welcome dear..
Love the flavor of puli in upma. Delicious and simple.
Thanks Sowmia
Love it :) will try it soon!
Thanks Trupti. Hope you like it.
Lovely recipe Sri.. have never tried it, would love to make it sometime!
Thanks :-) Let me know how it turned out.
Omg, this upma makes me nostalgic, one of my paternal grandma’s signature dish.
Thanks Priya.. Glad it bought back some good memories.
Yummy! I have never had this before! Will try it sometime!
Thanks Lina.
Puli upma looks like a perfect breakfast dish.
Thanks Sapana