TO MAKE UPMA: Assemble all the ingredients – chop onions, green chilies, curry leaves (if using chopped), carrots, grate ginger, etc.
Keep water for boiling and add green peas to it. Boil until the peas are cooked; set aside.
Heat oil in a large deep saucepan or kadai and once it is hot, add mustard seeds.
The seeds will splutter and crackle and when almost done, stir in urad dal and saute for a few seconds until light golden.
Stir in chopped green chilies, onions, curry leaves and ginger; give it a good stir and fry on medium heat until the onions are soft.
Add the chopped carrots and peanuts if using and saute for a minute.
Tip in the semolina and mix well. Roast/fry on medium heat, stirring often until the suji is well fried/roasted and the seasonings and oil are coating it well.
At this stage, add salt to taste and the hot water (along with the green peas, if using), stirring continuously with a ladle to avoid any lumps. To avoid the splashing of cooking suji, lower the heat at this stage.
You can add a couple of tablespoons of ghee now and then keep mixing continuously.
Close with a lid and let cook on low heat for a couple of minutes to allow the semolina to absorb all the water and cook well.
Once done, remove the lid, stir in more ghee if needed (recommended!) and garnish with freshly cut cilantro.
Mix well and eat hot or cool to make rava cutlets.
TO MAKE THE CUTLETS: In a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups upma, grated beets, rice flour or cornstarch and the spice powders; give it a good mix and bind into a firm dough.
Add chopped cilantro too if needed.
Now, line a pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil (grease if using this) with a overhang for easy removal of set cutlet dough. To help it stay in the pan while patting the dough, apply grease to the pan before lining.
Pat the prepared cutlet dough evenly over the parchment, smoothing the edges too.
Set in refrigerator to set for 2 to 4 hours.
Heat oil for deep frying.
Remove the chilled cutlet dough from the fridge and using a heart-shaped cutter (or any shape you like), cut out hearts of cutlet dough and set on a plate.
Make a fine powder of rolled oats and place in a bowl large enough to allow coating of cutlet.
In another bowl, make a slurry of rice flour, chilli powder (optional), salt and water to make a slightly coating mixture; not too thin, not too thick.
Gently dip the cutlet in the slurry just to moisten it; do not let it soak in the slurry too long or they will soften and break up!
Once the cutlet is slightly moistened with the rice slurry, gently drop into the bowl of oats powder and coat well all over. Make sure to have a thick coating as possible.
Drop in the hot oil and deep fry for a couple of minutes until it turns golden brown and is crisp all over.
Remove and set on absorbent paper line plates to remove excess oil. Deep fry all the cutlets similarly.
Serve hot, crispy and spicy rava/semolina/upma cutlets with some ketchup or your favorite green chutney!
Enjoy with your Valentine or Valentines!
