Brown rice upma

Arisi upma is the upma of Tamil Nadu: raw rice soaked, drained and ground to a semolina-like grit, then cooked like rava upma. Arisi simply means rice, and this recipe uses whole brown rice instead of white, so the ground grain carries its bran, and the upma comes out nuttier and chewier than the rava version. Because shop rava is wheat semolina, grinding the rice at home is also what keeps the dish free of wheat.

The grain needs a two-hour soak before grinding: brown rice is harder than white, and a short soak grinds into flour rather than grits. The ground rice is essentially a brown rice rava made at home. It cooks in three and a half cups of water to one cup of grits, more water than sooji takes because the bran keeps drinking as the upma simmers. The finished bowl is soft, grainy and moist, the rice grits flecked with bran, mustard and curry leaves.

White raw rice works with a one-hour soak and three cups of water; the upma comes out paler and softer. Add a grated carrot along with the onion, or leave the chillies out for a plain pot. What the grain holds is covered in our guide to brown rice, the brown rice water ratio page explains the cooking water for the whole grain, and the same rice cooked whole goes into the brown rice khichdi.