THE STORY OF 5 HUNGRY MONKEYS
At around 4:00 pm, the five hungry monkeys would tiptoe in the kitchen, topple dabbas full of snacks until each of them found something of their liking. They would do it ever so quietly (or so they would think), grab a handful in their tiny hands and tiptoe back to the swinging, leaving breadcrumbs on their way back. The momma monkeys were fed up with all the ruckus that interrupted their well-deserved afternoon naps. So they thought of just the thing that would calm the monkeys' rumbling tummies and keep them engaged.
‘Hold your hunger...’ they’d say, ‘...we are making vatki upma for you’. The five monkeys would cheer in unison and wait patiently until the mommas made upma. You see, it wasn’t just the upma they were particularly excited about - momma monkeys would turn the everyday porridge-like dish into more than just a blob and that was fascinating to them. Mommas would take about a spoonful of chopped tomatoes, add it to a small ”vatki”, scoop up some upma onto the tomatoes, and empty it upside down on a plate, forming a tiny mound of upma. The monkeys would make little mounds of upma and I think it was this interactivity that made “vatki upma” a favorite on the monkeys’ summer menu, and just like that a simple comforting food turned into a sweet memory.
The five hungry monkeys would return to their squabbles, pull each other’s hair, hardly agree on anything but you’d always find them together, inseparable, having the time of their lives, assuming all summers would be the same, unbeknownst to what Life had planned for them...
I miss those monkeys and being one of them in the prickly hot and humid Indian summer at my grandma and mama’s place. But I can at least recreate the memory in some form.
I have been trying to incorporate more millets in my diet. Not only are they crazy nutritious, they are economical to grow for the farmer, hardy - use up way less water for their cultivation and gluten free! So, I switched the semolina (gluten) in the humble upma with way more nutritious barnyard millet and I think my aunts would be proud.
Find the complete recipe for Barnyard Millet Upma here.
Translations:
Vatki - small bowl, about the size of a ramekin. Usually stainless steel for everyday use
Dabbas - food storage containers
Mama - Uncle/Mother’s brother
Mami - Aunt/Mama’s wife
