What does Upma Taste Like?
Salty is one of the five main tastes. It has a satisfying and addictive quality with hints of sourness. Salty foods include cheeses, cured meats, chips, and olives. It is used in almost every dish and prepared food. Salt is added to enhance flavor and offer a distinctly salty taste.
Umami is one of five main tastes. It is savory with a depth of flavor. Umami is a taste in many foods, including meat, seafood, beans, and nuts. It is both naturally occurring and created through the specific use of ingredients to create a satisfying taste. Umami is characteristic of proteins and savory dishes.
Spicy is a flavor that brings heat and fire to food by creating a burning sensation in the mouth or sinuses. Spicy flavors come from hot peppers, horseradish, and wasabi. Spicy adds a kick and sometimes complexity to a dish and releases endorphins, creating a mildly addictive quality.
Ingredients
Water is a substance and chemical compound made up of hydrogen and oxygen. It is clear, fluid, flavorless and odorless. Water is a necessity in nearly every aspect of life, including cooking, baking and hydrating the human body. Water can be served as a cold beverage, or at any temperature comfortable to the mouth and skin.
Semolina is a type of wheat flour made specifically from Durum wheat. It is not as fine as an all purpose wheat flour and is coarser and darker, with a yellow cream color. The aroma of this flour is earthy and the flavor is nutty and sweet. Semolina is commonly used in pasta and can be used for breads too. It is most popular in Italy, and is also used around the world.
The onion is a bulb vegetable, meaning its bulb and not its leaves are eaten. Onions come in many varieties, including white, yellow and red. Shallots are small and mild onions. Vidalias are sweet, while red onions are strong and sharp. The onion is usually round and has a thin dry skin around its juicy layers. This skin depends in the color of the onion, as does the flesh. The flesh, or body of the onion is made of multiple round layers, that get smaller towards the center. The flavor of onions are sharp and sweet when raw, with an astringent taste. When cooked, these flavors mellow and the sweetness emerges. Onion are a very common flavoring and ingredient for many savory dishes.
The green chili pepper is a spicy vegetable by culinary standards, but botanically it's a fruit. Green chili peppers have thin, green bodies with a tapered bottom. They are 2-3 inches in length with a one inch diameter. Their skin is a medium shade of green and is shiny and very thin. The flesh of the pepper is thin too and contains hot seeds in its center. It is an extra hot chili with a wonderful flavor and used in many dishes to add heat.
Vegetable oil is obtained by extracting oil from seeds. Types of vegetable oil include canola, sunflower, corn, and safflower. Light and with a neutral taste, vegetable oils are used to fry foods, or can be used to lightly coat meats and vegetables before roasting. Vegetable oils are also used as ingredients in salad dressings and sauces.
The peanut is not a nut, but a member of the pea family. Peanuts are called groundnuts, as they are a legume. Peanuts grow on vines out of the soil and have a firm and easy to crack shell. This shell is grey and indented with a gently curved, or straight and lumpy form. Inside the shell are the peanuts, with thin brown skin and tan/light brown bodies. Peanuts are small and oblong; slightly bigger than a pistachio. The flavor is unusual and nutty with a hint of sweetness. Peanuts can be roasted and salted, or used in a number of international dishes. They are a popular American snack.
Cashews are harvested from the cashew fruit. These nuts are actually in the seeds category. Cashews are a cream color with a curved, oblong body that is about half an inch in length. They are dense and hard, yet have a softness to their texture that is almost creamy. The flavor is mild, buttery and unique from any other nut. Cashews are popular in nut mixes, Indian dishes and as a dairy substitute, because of the creamy quality when blended with liquids.
Ghee is clarified butter in which the butter is cooked down and much of the milk solids are removed, in effect milk proteins and sugars are removed resulting in a lower content of lactose. Ghee can easily withstand high cooking temperatures. It is golden in color, hard when cold and soft when warm. It has a gentle nutty and buttery taste. Ghee adds a round quality to any dish, and a richness and depth of flavor. It is used as a cooking fat or like butter, but also as flavoring.
Ginger is a spice whose root is used in food around the world. The root is grown underground and has a hard body and thin beige skin. The root has many rounded and long shoots and is often fat. The flesh of the ginger is golden colored with a flavor that is earthy, spicy and bright. Ginger is made into tea, used in sauces, desserts and savory dishes.
Chana dal is a legume and related to the chickpea. It can be green, black or speckled and is split in half to create what is called chana dal, in Indian cooking. The bean is hard until boiled, where it then becomes soft. If overcooked it falls apart, but when cooked properly it has a soft texture that holds, and a mild bean flavor similar to chickpeas. It pairs well with many strong spices and is used in dishes throughout India, including soups and curries.
Yellow Urad Dal, also called yellow lentils are type of legume. The legume is hulled and split in half, so that one side of the tiny lentil is flat and the other is domed. Yellow urad dal is hard when dry, once cooked it becomes soft and has a texture that is both meaty and starchy. The flavor is mild, nutty and somewhat bland on its own. For this reason it pairs well with spices and seasonings.
Curry leaves are a small dark green leaf with tapered ends and a thin body. They are about in inch long and are often sold dried. Curry leaves are very aromatic and used in South and East Asian cuisine for its bright flavor. The flavor is almost citrusy, with a pungent note to them. They pair well in Thai and Indian dishes and add a pop of unexpected flavor, as they are often used whole.
Mustard seeds come from the mustard plant and are pinhead sized, round seeds. There are many varieties of mustard seeds, but the three most common types used in cooking are white, yellow and brown. All mustard seeds have a spicy and hot flavor. White and yellow mustard is mild and commonly used to make American mustard. Brown mustard is stronger, spicier and frequently used in Indian cuisine. Mustard is warming and often has a sharp edge to its flavor. It is used as a spice.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
