CHOW-CHOW BHATH

It is quite customary for people in the southern part of India to start their meal with a sweet dish. The first bit served on a banana leaf that is eaten first, is the payasam. A breakfast sweet Kesari Bhath with its counterpart Khara Bhath are popularly known as 'chow-chow bhath' in Mysore.

Chow-chow is the term that means a mixture (of sweet and savoury in this case). Chow-chow bhath is Upma or Khara Bhath (the savoury) and Kesari Bhath (the sweet) served together. The texture of the dishes that are made with semolina would depend primarily on the quantity of ghee or oil you use - meaning, more ghee/oil = more tastier (as we would say at home). Here's an extract from my unpublished book (don't ask me when it will be published pleeeeez).

Kesari Bhath

Kesari bhath is a semolina-based sweet dish, also known as sheera in the north. This sweet dish is normally served with its savory version, called khara bhath or upma. When served together on one plate, the dish is known as chow-chow bhath (chow-chow = mixture). In the north, sheera is served with hot poories.

Ingredients

Serves 4

Semolina (fine or medium sized)	2 cups
Ghee	1½ cups
Sugar	1½ cups
Cloves	5
Cardamom powder	¾ tsp
Water	4 cups
Cashews, split	handful
Almonds, split	handful
Ripe banana OR	½ OR
Pineapple, diced	½ cup
Saffron	pinch

Method

Soak the saffron in ¼ cup of warm water for at least 20 minutes and set aside.

Add sugar to the water and bring to a boil. Simmer while you fry the following ingredients.

Heat a thick-bottomed pot and add ghee until it melts. Fry raisins, cashews, and almonds on a low to medium flame until the raisins become round and the cashews and almonds turn golden. Remove the fried nuts and raisins from the ghee and set aside.

Add the semolina to the same ghee and fry for 2 to 3 minutes on a high flame, stirring constantly. Add the cardamom and fry until the aroma begins to rise. (Add more ghee for better results.) Add the smashed banana or the finely diced pineapple and stir for about a minute. Reduce the flame and gently pour the hot sugar water into the fried semolina and mix thoroughly to ensure there are no lumps. Add soaked saffron and mix. Cover and cook on low flame for 3 minutes. Mix in half the quantity of raisins, cashews, and almonds and decorate the top with the other half. Serve hot or warm.

Note: Use yellow, spotted ripe bananas in kesari bhath.

Upma or Khara Bhath

Ingredients

Serves 4

Semolina (medium or large size)	2 cups
Oil	¼ cup
Mustard seeds	½ tsp
Chillies, fresh green or dry	2
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Cumin seeds	1 tsp
Urad daal	1 tsp
Chana daal	1 tsp
Asafoetida (if garlic is not used)	pinch
Onion, finely chopped	2 medium
Diced carrot, potato, green peppers, peas	1 cup
Ginger, shredded or ground	½ to 1 tsp
Tomatoes, diced OR Lemon juice	1 cup OR 2 Tbsp
Water	4 cups
Ghee	2 Tbsp
Grated coconut	½ cup
Coriander, freshly chopped	1 Tbsp
Salt	to taste

Method

Lightly dry roast the semolina in a pan or pot, constantly stirring on a medium to high flame for 3 to 4 minutes to remove all of the moisture (adding a tbs of ghee while roasting semolina give the upma a great texture). Set aside.

Heat the oil in a pot and add the following ingredients in this order: mustard seeds until they pop or sputter, curry leaves, cumin seeds, chillies, chana and urad daals. Fry until daals are golden brown. Add asafoetida and stir for a few more seconds. Add onions and fry until translucent (garlic may be added along with onions if asafoetida is not used). Mix in the diced vegetables and cook with the lid on for about 7 to 10 minutes or until the vegetables are almost done. Add tomatoes and cook until tomatoes soften. Add water, ginger, and salt to this mixture and bring to a boil. Pour the semolina slowly into the boiling mixture while stirring well. The mixture will begin to thicken. If using lemon juice instead of tomatoes, add it now. Cover with lid and cook on a low flame for 5 more minutes. Garnish with ghee, coriander, and grated coconut and serve hot.