Procedure 1 I used leftover bulgur which I had prepared already. If you want to start with dry bulgur, soak bulgur with equal amount of boiling water (1:1) and a pinch of salt. It will take about 30-45 minutes to absorb the water and then it’s ready.

2 Add washed/rinsed chana dal (kadalai paruppu), 1 cup of water, turmeric and little salt in a pressure cooker. Also add the ginger, if using. I always use ginger while cooking lentils and legumes to aid easy digestion. Leave it for only one whistle and remove the cooker from the stove to stop the cooking process. If you cook it for more than 1 whistle the daal will become mushy. After the opening the cooker drain the daal in a colander. No need to reserve the water.

3 Once you have the bulgur and channa daal ready, in a frying pan heat the oil.

4 Once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds and hing. After it splutters add the green chillies. I used one chili, split in half.

5 Now add the drained channa daal, little salt and fry for a minute. After that also include the prepared bulgur and combine it thoroughly. Leave it in the stove for another minute.

6 Switch off the stove and add the grated coconut and mix it well. Garnish it with chopped coriander.

My Notes 1 If you don’t have a pressure cooker you can cook the chana daal on stove top but it will take more time. Also you may have to increase the quantity of water.

2 I have a very small size pressure cooker, so I cooked the chana dal directly. Instead you can also add the daal and water in a vessel, place it in the cooker and leave it for a whistle.

Procedure 1 In a bowl add the bulgur wheat, boiling water and little salt. Stir it thoroughly and leave it until all the water is absorbed. It may take about 45 minutes.

2 Meanwhile in a big frying pan add the oil and heat it. Once it is hot enough add the mustard seeds. After it splutters add the peanuts (if using) and roast it. Then add the urad daal and channa daal and fry it until golden brown.

3 Add the chopped onions and slit green chili. Add little salt, so that the onion would cook faster.

4 Once the onions are cooked add the other vegetables, 1/2 cup (or more) water as required, salt and close the pan with a lid. Increase the heat and in about 10-15 minutes the vegetables would have cooked enough.

5 To the cooked vegetables mixture add the prepared bulgur and combine it well. Garnish it with cilantro and it’s ready to dig in.

My Notes 1 If adding peanuts, it’s preferable to add it first after the mustard seeds splutter. Since it takes some time to roast, if it’s added after the urad daal and channa daal, by the time it turns brown the other daals would get burnt.

2 This bulgur upma is good both hot or cold. I had some leftover which I kept it in the fridge. It tasted so good (or even better) the next day, even straight from the fridge.

3 Bulgur before soaking may look very less but after it absorbs the water and especially with so much vegetables it makes huge quantity. You can really feed an army. Try it when you are having a potluck or friends over. When I first measured 1 cup of bulgur, I thought it would not be enough for the 2 of us. Usually I use 1 and 3/4th cups of vermicilli or cracked wheat for preparing upma. So I measured another 3/4th cup of bulgur to prepare this upma. Gosh! that was so much for us. So I did not add the entire bulgur to the cooked vegetables. I reserved some for later. Luckily I got another idea to make use of the excess bulgur. That dish turned out very good too. Will post it later.

4 Next I want to cook pulav using bulgur. I’m sure it would taste equally good.