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Home » Breakfast & Brunch » South Indian Rava Upma Recipe

Published: Mar 1, 2021 | Modified: Dec 29, 2022 by Hina Gujral

South Indian Rava Upma Recipe

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Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast. It is wholesome, fulfilling, savoury porridge ready in under 30 minutes. Serve suji ka upma with coconut chutney for a comforting breakfast.

Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin
Vegetable Rava Upma

What is ‘Upma’?

Upma is an Indian word for ‘savoury porridge.’ It is made with various vegetables, whole grains, or vermicelli.

There are wide varieties of upma in South Indian cuisine. Rava Upma is one of the most popular South Indian breakfast recipes. It is loaded with carrots, green peas, beans, and onion.

Adding seasonal vegetables adds great taste to the rava upma and increases its fibre content. The addition of peanuts and cashews boosts the protein value of the upma.

Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin

Upma Recipe Variations

Plain Upma – with only aromatics such as ginger, curry leaves, onions, and green chillies

Masala Upma – with onion, tomatoes, and a dash of sambar powder or other masalas.

Tomato Upma – adding tomatoes and leaving out the onions to give the upma a tangy spin (Jain-friendly).

Vegetable Upma – with the addition of carrots, peas, beans etc.

Semiya Upma – adding roasted semiya (vermicelli) instead of semolina for a change in textures.

Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin

Rava Upma Premix

For the “instant upma mix,” you need to dry roast semolina till light golden. Transfer to a bowl to cool down.

Heat a teaspoon of ghee/coconut oil, and add black mustard seeds; once they splutter, add ginger, green chillies, cashews, chana dal, urad dal, and curry leaves. Fry for 1 – 2 minutes. Add salt to taste, mix well, and add it to the roasted rava (suji). Mix nicely and allow to cool down.

Store this dry upma premix in the freezer for a couple of months.

When in a hurry, all you need to do is boil two parts of water, add one part of the upma premix, and stir continuously; once suji (rava) is cooked and thick, serve rava upma.

Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin
Rava Upma Premix

My Tried & True Tips

Be mindful of the water to be added to the upma. I follow a ratio of ½ cup rava to 1 ½ cup water.

Add semolina only after the water comes to a boil. Stir constantly in a circular motion while adding the semolina to avoid forming lumps.

After the addition of semolina, cook the upma covered on low heat. Once cooked, give it a resting time of 5 minutes and then fluff it up using a fork before serving.

For a creamier rava upma, substitute half the quantity of water with milk or curd.

If you want the upma to be richer, you can roast the semolina in ghee and garnish it with ghee-roasted cashew nuts.

For a vegan rava upma, use coconut oil or any other plant-based oil (that doesn’t have a distinct flavour) instead of ghee.

How To Make

Step 1) First, dry roast semolina over medium heat in a heavy bottom pan for 5 – 6 minutes. Stir continuously at regular intervals while roasting. Transfer to a plate and set aside till required. If you are using readymade roasted semolina, then skip this step.

Step 2) Heat oil in the wok or kadhai over medium flame. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, peanuts, curry leaves, asafoetida, and fry for 1 – 2 minutes. The colours of lentils and peanuts will change to light brown.

Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin
Step 1
Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin
Step 2

Step 3) Next, add sliced cashews, grated ginger, green chilli, and fry for 1 – 2 minutes or till cashews turn light golden. Add the chopped onion and fry for 3 – 5 minutes or till the onion starts turning translucent.

Step 4) Add peas, salt, and crushed pepper, and stir to combine. Next, add water, stir to combine, and increase the flame to high. Let the water start boiling. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin
Step 3
Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin
Step 4

Step 5) Slowly add the roasted semolina with a steady flow and stir continuously from the other hand in a circular motion to avoid any lumps. Keep stirring until the semolina absorbs all the water.

Cover the wok with a lid and cook over low heat for 3 – 5 minutes.

Step 6) After 3 – 5 minutes, turn off the heat. Open the lid and fluff the upma using a fork. Drizzle a teaspoon of ghee and garnish with chopped coriander.

Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin

Serving Suggestion

In South India, the rava upma is served with a variety of side dishes such as coconut chutney, green chutney, or vegetable sambar.

You can serve suji upma as a breakfast or teatime snack. It is a fantastic dish for a kid’s lunchbox as well.

More South Indian Breakfast Recipes

  • Rava Idli
  • Medu Vada
  • Instant Rava Paniyaram
  • Karnataka Maddur Vada
  • Karnataka Style Khara Bhath

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Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin

Rava Upma Recipe

Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast prepared with semolina (rava) and fresh vegetables. Learn how to make upma in a few simple steps.
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 273kcal
Author: Hina Gujral
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Ingredients

  • ½ Cup rava/suji (semolina)
  • 3 tablespoon cooking oil or ghee (clarified butter)
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
  • 1 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
  • 6 – 8 curry leaves
  • ½ teaspoon white urad dal
  • ½ teaspoon chana dal (Bengal Gram)
  • a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
  • 2 tablespoon peanuts (moongphalli)
  • 6 – 8 cashew-nuts (kaju), sliced
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger
  • 1 Cup fine chopped onion
  • ¼ Cup green peas
  • 1 green chilli, fine chopped
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns (sabut kalimirch), crushed
  • 1 ½ Cup Water
  • 1 tablespoon chopped coriander

Instructions

  • For making upma, first dry roast semolina over medium heat in a heavy bottom pan for 5 – 6 minutes. Stir continuously at regular intervals while roasting. Transfer to a plate and set aside till required. If you are using readymade roasted semolina then skip this step.
    Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin
  • Heat oil in the wok or kadhai over medium flame. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, chana dal, peanuts, curry leaves, asafoetida and fry for 1 – 2 minutes. The colors of lentils and peanuts will change to light brown.
    Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin
  • Next, add sliced cashews, grated ginger, green chili and fry for 1 – 2 minutes or till cashews turn light golden in color.
    Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin
  • Add the chopped onion and fry for 3 – 5 minutes or till onion start turning translucent.
  • Add peas, salt, crushed pepper and stir to combine. Next, add water, stir to combine and increase the flame to high. Let the water start boiling. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
    Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin
  • Slowly add the roasted semolina with a steady flow and stir continuously from the other hand in a circular motion to avoid any lumps. Keep stirring until semolina absorbs all the water. Cover the wok with a lid and cook over low heat for 3 – 5 minutes.
    Rava Upma is a vegetarian South Indian breakfast porridge prepared with semolina and fresh vegetables.Pin
  • After 3 – 5 minutes, turn off the heat. Open the lid and fluff the upma using a fork. Drizzle a teaspoon of ghee and garnish with chopped coriander.
  • Serve rava upma warm with coconut chutney or sambar.

Recipe Notes:

  • Add semolina only after the water comes to a boil. Stir constantly in a circular motion while adding the semolina to avoid the formation of lumps.
  • After the addition of semolina, cook the upma covered on low heat. Once cooked, give it a resting time of 5 mins and then fluff it up using a fork before serving.
  • For a creamier Upma, half the quantity of water can be substituted with milk or curd.
  • If you want the upma to be richer you can roast the semolina in ghee, and garnish it with ghee-roasted cashew nuts.
  • Upma can also be made vegan by using coconut oil or any other plant-based oil (that doesn’t have a distinct flavor) instead of ghee.

Nutrition

Calories: 273kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 48mg | Potassium: 228mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 222IU | Vitamin C: 78mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 2mg
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South Indian Rava UpmaPin

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Khara Bhath (Vegetable Rava Upma)
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. hellena says

    June 26, 2019 at 11:32 am

    this looks so good. i have to try this recipe but i will not add the green chillie

    Reply
    • Hina Gujral says

      June 27, 2019 at 11:26 am

      Green Chilli is added only for the spicy flavor. You can totally skip it. The upma will taste equally good.

      Reply
  2. Jayalakshmi says

    June 27, 2019 at 12:35 pm

    Looking v delicious and v easy steps to prepare too

    Reply
    • Hina Gujral says

      June 28, 2019 at 12:13 pm

      I am happy you like it.

      Reply
  3. Sheetal pant joshi says

    July 02, 2019 at 10:12 am

    Its a ideal recipe for my kiddos box .thanks for sharing ????

    Reply
    • Hina Gujral says

      July 02, 2019 at 11:04 am

      I am so happy that you took time out and shared your feedback. Thanks!

      Reply
  4. Shruthi says

    July 01, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    Your consistency is so correct! Turns out the same every single time 🙂

    Reply
    • Hina Gujral says

      July 02, 2020 at 11:37 am

      It is such valuable feedback. Thanks!

      Reply

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