If you love the fragrant spicy tastes of Indian dishes, you will surely love this Upma recipe, especially if you’re trying to watch your carbs. Upma is an Indian breakfast staple that consists of a thick porridge made from dry-roasted semolina or coarse rice flour.
The standard recipe contains plenty of carbs, so it’s not something you want for your keto diet. But, if you find yourself craving something spicy to eat for breakfast, then this Upma recipe for keto from Sahil Makhija of the Headbangers Kitchen is just the ticket.
Sahil, whose tasty recipes I’ve included on this blog before, says he’s passionate about food and cooking and is on a mission to make the keto diet easy and tasty and very achievable.
Instead of semolina or rice flour, the recipe calls for processed cauliflower. With only 6 grams of net carbs per serving, this breakfast dish is what every keto follower needs.
If you’re fed up with eggs and bacon for breakfast on your keto diet then this recipe makes a welcome change. Plus it’s very healthy.
Related reading: 5 Low Carb Breakfasts To Energize Your Day
Health benefits of cauliflower
Although many people consider this vegetable as mundane it has a lot of amazing health benefits. For one thing it is full of fiber, which is very much needed to prevent the dreaded constipation so prevalent on the keto diet if you are not careful.
Cauliflower contain essential nutrients such as vitamins C, B6 and K, folate, choline, magnesium as well as antioxidants and phytonutrients.
Being a cruciferous vegetable it helps to improve your liver’s detoxification abilities which is important these days when we are subjected to so many chemicals in the environment.
These toxic chemicals get into our bodies and can build up if they ovewhealm the liver’s detox capacity and interfere with how your body functions. It’s important to support your liver with these cruciferous vegetables so they are eliminated.
Cauliflower also contains glucosinolates which help to protect against some cancers. They can also help prevent bacterial, viral, and fungal infection in the intestines as well as other parts of the body.
Cauliflower turns out to be a very versatile vegetable to use on the keto diet as it is a good substitute for many higher carb ingredients like rice and potatoes.
Fo example, have you tried this Cauliflower Potato Mash Recipe or this Cauliflower Fried Rice Recipe or this Low Carb Cauliflower Fried Rice with Chicken.
You can use cauliflower for these Amazing Cauliflower Wraps or for this Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe.
Peanuts on keto
Sahil uses peanuts in this keto version of an Indian dish to replace the lentils that are often used in the original Upta. I don’t rate peanuts at all.
Firstly, they are not true nuts, they are legumes! They are related to beans and lentils which are not keto-friendly. Secondly, while you will find lists of keto friendly foods that say you can eat peanuts they are higher in carbs than true nuts.
So, if you have some other nuts to hand then I suggest you use those instead for the recipe.
Related reading: Best Nuts to Eat On A Keto Diet
Upma Recipe for Keto
Serves 2 or 1 hungry person
Ingredients
- 200 grams cauliflower florets
- 2 tbsp. ghee (clarified butter)
- 5 grams ginger
- 20 grams peanuts or other nuts
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 50 grams onion
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- 4 to 5 pcs curry leaves
- 1 green chili, halved and deseeded
- Redmond Real Salt to taste
- Coriander, chpped for garnishing
Directions
1. Place the cauliflower florets in a food processor. Process until it resembles cous cous.
2. Add the ghee to a frying pan and heat. Add and start to cook the cumin and mustard seeds.
3. Once they start sizzling, add the onion, ginger, chilli, and curry leaves to the pan. Then season with some salt.
4. Saute the onions until they begin to become translucent and just start to change color.
5. Add the processed cauliflower and cook for a few minutes.
6. Pour in one cup of filtered water and cook covered for about 10 minutes.
7. Stir every few minutes to ensure that it’s not sticking.
8. Cook until the water disappears and the cauliflower is tender. Place in a serving dish and garnish with the chopped coriander before serving. Enjoy!
Here’s Sahil’s video demo of how this Upma recipe is prepared.
