Vermicelli Upma

A simple savoury South Indian snack made with vermicelli.

• CuisineIndian
• CategoryVeg
• CourseSnacks

Ingredients

• 200 gmsVermicelli
• 200 gmsonions, chopped
• 1green chilli, chopped
• 1 tspginger, minced
• 1 tspmustard seeds
• 1 tspcumin seeds
• 1 tbspurad dal
• 1 tbspchanna dal
• 1 pinchhing
• ½ tspchilli powder
• 6curry leaves
•  Oil
•  Salt

Preparation

1. Heat oil
2. Add mustard seeds and heat till they pop
3. Add cumin, urad, channa dal, hing and curry leaves
4. In a minute, when the dals turn golden, add ginger, chopped onion, chillies
5. Saute till onions are soft
6. Add vermicelli with a cup of water
7. Stir and add the chilli powder
8. Stir till gently till vermicelli is cooked

Vermicelli. It means little worms in Italian. How did a type of pasta rarely found in Italy travel half way across the globe and become the only pasta commonly available? In the north of India it is called seviyan. Travel to the South of India and it is commonly called vermicelli. Perhaps it started off as a type of thin rice noodles. It was then substituted by this variety made of wheat.

I remember the rice noodles made from scratch from a very young age. Balls of ground rice were steamed a bit like idlis. While still hot, they were placed in this contraption that had a handle to be turned around to squeeze it out of a perforated drum.
The press to make the noodles was a steel device with some brass bits. It can be taken apart and put together when needed. The oldest kid got the privilege to operate it - usually me. So on one of trips back home, I made sure my son could go through the experience himself.

The noodles were coiled on to a plate in clumps. Usually, it was eaten fresh with some chicken curry or coconut milk sweetened with jaggery with sliced bananas added to it. Once dried, it became the familiar vermicelli.

The dried vermicelli stays for months. It can then be prepared in many ways. If steamed, it comes very close to the fresh version and can be eaten the same way. The vermicelli upma in this recipe is another popular dish using this.

One option I have used in the past is a similar pasta - a real one - that is thin and is in short pieces, found in Turkish shops. This should not be surprising - Turkey is the biggest manufacturer of pasta after Italy. In this case, the pasta has to be cooked in boiling water first. When I bought the same thing from an Indian shop, I made the mistake of popping it in boiling water first. In a minute I realised my mistake and quickly fished it out. So if you are using the Indian version, you do not need to cook it first. Just add a little bit of water while making the Upma and you'll be right.