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Monday, August 04, 2008

Cooking with leftovers - Vermicelli upma pakoda

When it comes to making upma, I do not know the magic proportion that will yield just enough for two. I ALWAYS end up with more than we can eat. When the same situation arose yesterday and I was left with enough upma after breakfast to safely see us through lunch and dinner and maybe breakfast the next day, I had a brainwave (oh yeah....I do have one of those once in a while...) and that's how this dish was born.

What you need:

Leftover semiya upma
Red chilli powder
Salt
Gram flour/besan
Rice flour
Oil - for deep frying
(Quantities depend on how much upma you have leftover.)

Mix all the ingredients together. Use just enough besan and rice flour to for a really thick batter. Add water only if needed and even then, just sprinkle a few drops at a time.
Heat oil in a pan. Drop spoonfuls of the upma-besan mixture into hot oil. Deep fry until golden brown. Drain excess oil and serve hot with ketchup/chutney.

Thoughts : The pakodas turned out nice, brown and crisp. Perfect way to use up leftovers.

Note : To make upma, heat 2 tsp of oil. Season with mustard seeds and urad dal. Add chopped onions, ginger, green chillies, garlic, tomatoes, veggies of your choice and stir fry for a few minutes. Add 2 cups of water for every cup of vermicelli you use. Once the water boils, add in the vermicelli and salt. Cook until all the moisture is absorbed and the vermicelli is cooked through.

This goes to Rushina's Pakora Contest and also to the Original Recipe Event at Lore's Culinarty.

21 comments:

Shreya said...

this is a cool idea with vermicelli upma leftovers.. i too always have this problem, and now this will be the solution:-)

Laavanya said...

What a cool and yummy idea - making pakoras with leftover upma. I love vermicelli upma so there's usually not much leftover... :)

Suganya said...

WOW... That was wise idea. Looks so good and crunchy. Perfect for Tea. YUM!

Unknown said...

That's a neat idea.Loved the golden crispy pakoras..

sra said...

Certainly original! Leftovers are the story of my life!

Lavanya Raj said...

Thats a great idea Jayashree..even the pakoda's looks yummy..when it comes to upma, even my measurements fails.

Unknown said...

nice one..I made a similar one with vermicelli..nice that u made them with leftovers..

Vani said...

Wow! That must have been super-delish!!

notyet100 said...

this looks nice ,..good one for both the event

Lore said...

I'm glad you decided to join us! The story behind your dish sounds perfect for the Original Recipes round-up.
They look delicious and I for one love the idea of making a crispy snack out of leftovers...*drool* :)

SMN said...

this is a very nice idea of using leftovers.

Unknown said...

Hmmm...yummy! Very innovative :)

http://homecooked.wordpress.com

Unknown said...

great idea..the picture is so tempting!!

Nidhi said...

All these fried stuff are the best company in the whether we are enjoying rt now in Chennai..and to think that it came out of leftovers, is the best part.

Something for you on my blog. Check it out!

ST said...

Thats lovely idea using leftovers....looks crispy

A_and_N said...

Very clever way of handling leftovers :)

Unknown said...

Very interesting experiment indeed! My mom makes Vadiyam with left over rice & I look out for such innovatice ideas as I always end up cooking more than required :)

Usha said...

Great idea,looks delicious :)
This is my first visit to your blog,its very nice with a good variety of recipes,enjoyed the visit:)

EC said...

Pakoras with leftovers..yumm, there is a post of pakodas with leftover fried rice in my blog, check out when possible...till then let me drool over ur pics

amna said...

what an innovative idea :)

Unknown said...

Thank you for a wonderful idea! i tried ur recipe. so simple and easy to make resulting with a yummy outcome.