Uppittu, Upma, Kharabath

Recently, I started getting severe craving for Uppitt (Uppittu, Upma and Kharabath they all mean the same thing just like India, Bharat and Hindustan!). I hadn't had that one before and was never a big fan of Uppitt. Its something I had never learnt cooking it myself and never tried ordering it in many of the Indian restaurants here in US. I had tried cooking it some 2 years back and it did not end up anywhere close to being called Uppitt. When mentioned this to a friend who works with me he said he would make it someday and invite me. That someday never came and its been a running joke between us since then. So I decided to buy 'Rave' (Soji) and other ingredients from the Indian store and try cooking it myself.

First time it came off OK. 2 days later it came off wonderfully well, this time I made it on an early Saturday morning and it went very well with watching Test Match Cricket between India and England. Couple of days later, as there was still some Soji left, I made Uppitt again. So in a single week I made Uppitt 3 times. When I went to the grocery store right after that day and I saw Shavige (vermicelli) which I hadn't eaten in a long time and I remembered,what else, Shavige Uppitt. But the mission Shavige Uppitt was abandoned very early due to my colossal stupidity of putting Shavige in cold water and boiling it instead of adding it to boiling water. I waited one whole day before I went back to the store to get more Shavige and successfully complete the mission thereafter.

The earliest memories of Uppitt I have is when I was in 2nd Standard (Grade). I used to ride in a 'jatka gaadi' (tanga, a horse carriage) to school in India. After dropping us off at the school the jatka gaadi was used to carry government sponsored lunch meals to government schools. Guess what,Mass-produced Uppitt was that lunch meal. On our way back from school the 'jatka mama' (the man who drove the carriage, his name was 'gaadi munna') used to collect all the leftover Uppitt to feed his horses. I still remember the smell of the uppitt which is actually very similar to one you get when you open one of the ready to eat Kharabath packets you get here in US.

When I was in boarding school we were fed a very heavy breakfast. Breakfast was realy good and always 2 courses with a beverage. There were 3 kinds Uppitt that repeated every 2-3 weeks. The standard, a little bit greasy, Upma. Uppitt with tomatoes, carrots, green beans and green peas and then simple avalakki Uppitt made of Pova. The last one was my favorite.

Back home Mom makes 3 different kinds of Uppitt. There is the standard Rave uppitt. The seasonal akki-rave (Rice-Soji) Uppitt which she always makes with avarekalu (Field Beans) which is seasonal. And then the puri Uppitt which she always mixes with fried eggs. My aunt made avalakki Uppitt from time to time. I never liked the standard Uppitt as I thought it was taking up the slot of more delectable breakfast options like Dosa and Rotti. My mom still uses Uppitt as a quick-fix breakfast. When I tell her how I like Uppitt now she reminds of the days when I used to say "Someone should please write a letter to the Chief minister of the state requesting for a ban on Uppitt for 3 years!". Those were the days when food was something that magically appeared every single time I walk into kitchen and food was something I ate and not something I cooked.

Shavige Uppitt is also one of the kind I like very much which is served in breakfast places (hotlu, hotels) in India. Before I came to US there was something else I knew about Uppitt. I remember reading a interview with one of my childhood heroes Dr. H. Narasimhaiah in which he said he survived nearly a year in US eating Uppitt for breakfast as he didn't know to make any other Indian breakfast and how easy it was to make it. I didn't have the full picture then.

Now I do. I ate Uppitt for dinner, breakfast and again for dinner the next day.