Rullam (Aaju's Rullam)

This dish is dedicated to someone who was really specially to us (and to the entire Chitrapur Saraswat community in the UK) - Mohan Sajip, who passed away on on 08 November 2020. Mohan maam ('maam' - which is the respectful term for elders in Konkani and is the equivalent for "uncle") was a doting grandfather figure to us and there are so many adjectives to describe him - effervescent, caring, gentle and affable are just a few of these. Anyone who knew Mohan Maam even for a passing second was deeply touched by his positivity and love, for that is all that he emanated. He was one of the first aamchi persons to come to the UK and played a pivotal role in forming what is now the UK Saraswat SamajSabha. Through decades he remained a strong supporter of the Samaj Sabha and its activities over many years.

He was exceptionally well traveled and knowledgeable and liked to keep up with the times - Mohan Maam's whatsapps and the use of emojis was super impressive for a man of his age. I am so thrilled that he also sent Konkani stories through voice notes for Aatmay, something I am eternally grateful for.

The week before his passing, Anushree and I had a real longing to meet him and his wife Sharde Pacchi, particularly as we hadn't seen them since the start of the year owing to the pandemic. That morning, I had planned to make my R recipe and wanted to make "ajju" rullam (the significance of which is explained in the video recipe). I called Mohan maam to speak to him and ask for his recipe, but as he was unavailable at the time, his son Vinay Maam Sajip gave me the recipe. We later paid a socially distanced visit to Mohan Maam and Sharde Pacchi, and we are so happy that we undertook that journey as we would otherwise not have seen Mohan Maam before his unfortunate demise .

Mohan Maam will be deeply missed but he has left behind so much love and so many fond memories for all of us to cherish, and we are only grateful to have had the time we had with him.

Rullam or upma is a typical aamchi breakfast dish made from semolina. Whilst I had made the dish (and the photos below are of this), I thought it was only right that this should be demonstrated in Mohan Maam's name by Vinay Maam. Therefore, I would ask that you please watch the video published on Insta and Facebook.

Vinay Maam has kindly provided the recipe below - it is incredibly helpful and detailed.

Ingredients:

Quantities for: Four servings plus some left over

Extra coarse semolina 450 ml (or you can use Coarse semolina)

Boiling water 900 ml (or 680 ml if you're using Coarse semolina)

Frozen mixed vegetables as shown in video recipe - Broccoli, carrot, peas, sweetcorn, red pepper - all cut small (can use fresh if frozen unavailable)

1tsp Cumin

2 tsp Udid dal

2 tsp Mustard seeds

6-8 Curry leaves

Cashew nuts split/broken (To taste - generous handful)

50 ml Vegetable oil

3 tsp Salt

1 tsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

3 tsp Sambar powder

A dash of lemon juice

Garnish:

Shredded coconut or desiccated coconut + a little water)

Coriander leaves

Method:

1. In a small-medium saucepan, put the vegetables, 1 tsp of salt and the lemon juice. Add all the boiling water and keep on a very low flame. The lemon juice helps to keep the colour of the vegetables bright.

2. In parallel, on a medium flame in a wok or kadhai-style dish, add the oil and wait for it to warm up. When fairly hot, add the cumin, and soon after, add the udid dal and mustard seeds. Stir a bit, wait for the mustard seeds to pop, then add the curry leaves and the cashew nuts. Keep stirring until the cashew nuts become a uniform brown colour (by this point the udid dal will also be a slightly darker brown). Add the semolina and stir thoroughly, so that the oil coats the semolina grains uniformly.

3. Keep roasting the semolina, stirring continuously, for around 10-15 minutes on the medium flame. You'll know when to stop roasting by noticing that where the semolina meets the pan, it starts to turn a noticeably darker shade of brown. (As you keep stirring, the semolina overall will turn slightly darker than when you started, but as the change is gradual and not pronounced, you may not be able to tell from that when to stop.)

4. Once you've reached the point at which to stop roasting, turn the flame under the vegetables off, and turn the flame under the semolina to a minimum. (The vegetable mixture should be steaming gently but not simmering or boiling.) Add the water and the vegetables to the semolina, carefully and slowly to avoid spatter (there will be some spatter, which is why the flame is turned right down). Stir the mixture through: the semolina will absorb the water and increase in volume. If you like your rullam a bit wetter (the quantities I've given are for a dry/friable consistency), you can add a little more water from the kettle to your taste to make the consistency more like a paste. Turn the flame off completely.

5. Add the shredded coconut (it's OK to add directly from the freezer; wait a bit and the heat of the rullam will thaw it and allow you to mix it in) and the coriander leaves.

Mix everything through thoroughly and serve hot with some crisps (ready salted, salt-and-pepper or cheese-and-onion) or a crispy Indian concoction such as sev or chiwda/Bombay mix, and some nice South Indian-style coffee or some masala tea!