Rava Upma Recipe

Name: Upma Recipe | Rava Upma Recipe (Easy & Fluffy)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 cup Rava | Suji or Semolina Flour; 1 medium Onion (chopped finely); 2 Green chilli (chopped finely); 1 tsp Ginger ( grated); Salt to taste; 2 cups Water; 2 tbsp Coriander leaves (for garnishing); 1 tsp Lemon juice ( to taste); 2 tbsp Ghee; 2 tbsp Oil; 2 tsp Split Chana dal; 10 piece Cashews; 1 tsp Split Urad dal; 1 tsp Mustard seeds; ¼ tsp Asafoetida; 1 sprig Curry leaves

Last Updated On: Jun 22, 2026 by Aarthi

602

Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe Add Yummy Tummy Aarthi as a preferred source on google

Upma! Basic and popular South Indian Breakfast Recipe which is loved by everyone. Takes less than 15 minutes to make and is a crowd pleaser. Upma Recipe also known as Suji ka upma is made with sooji also knowns as cream of wheat or semolina flour. The tempering for upma uses onion, green chillies, ginger and spices like mustard, lentils, cashews. Serve it with coconut chutney or sugar to have a satisfying breakfast.

upma served in banana leaf with coconut chutney

Upma Recipe

Upma is one of the underestimated food in Indian breakfast menu. But I think sooji ka upma recipe is the most versatile dish to prepare. We make it at least once a week for the family.

Jump to:

About Rava Upma
Ingredients
Step by Step Pictures
Expert Tips
FAQs
📖 Get Recipe

Most of the times i make it simple with spices and onions. When I am serving this for kids, I load it up with vegetables. We make mini tiffin during weekends often, I like to add upma and kesari along with medu vada and tomato chutney which is my family top favorite.

About Rava Upma

Upma is a tasty, flavourful staple Indian breakfast dish which is made with sooji | suji or semolina flour.

Sometimes suji is also known as cream of wheat. This dish is very popular in the South Indian region but equally popular around North part of India as well.

Traditionally dish is made by tempering spices like mustard, urad dal, split chana dal, cashews in oil or ghee. Onions, green chillies, ginger and curry leaves is stir fried for few seconds before adding suji or rava.

The key to make a fluffy and tasty upma is to roast suji really well before adding water. I like to roast them till golden brown.

This makes the upma fluffy. This hot breakfast dish can be made completely vegan if you use oil instead of ghee. It will be your family favorite breakfast recipe like my semiya upma recipe.

More Recipes

close up shot of upma served in banana leaf with coconut chutney

My Upma Recipe

I make rava upma the basic way with tempering spices and cooking them. Depending on what you serve, this breakfast dish can be transformed into sweet or savoury.

Serve it with coconut chutney and sambar for a savoury breakfast. Sprinkling of sugar or jaggery for a sweet one.

Growing up my mom makes upma the same way I am showing here. This dish is not only popular in South India but enjoyed in Maharashtra, Mumbai & some parts of Karnataka,

rava upma served in banana leaf with coconut chutney

Ingredients

Rava | Suji - I prefer to use roasted rava which is readily available in the market. Use slightly coarse rava if you prefer texture.
Onions - One of the most important ingredient in making upma. Use onions or shallots which is peeled and chopped finely for even distribution.
Green Chillies - depending on your spice tolerance you can increase the quantity. Some times I add broken dry red chillies when tempering spices.
Ginger - I prefer to grate or mince my ginger using a microplane zester or grater since I don't want to bite into bits of ginger.
Tempering Spices - split chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves adds the flavour to upma.
Cashews - cashews adds a crunch to the upma when toasted in the oil.
Oil | Ghee - this recipe needs generous amount of oil or ghee to make it tasty.
Optional - you can bulk up upma with mixed vegetables which gives added nutrition. Lemon juice and coriander leaves is added in the end of cooking for taste.

Step by Step Pictures

Tempering spices

1)Heat oil in a kadai. Once oil is hot enough, add in chana dal.

2)Now add in mustard seeds and urad dal. Let them sizzle till golden.

3)Add in asafoetida and curry leaves. I used asafoetida which is in gum form which I what I had on hand at that moment. You can use powdered asafoetida which is what preferred.

add asafoetida and curry leaves and allow to sizzle

4)Add in finely chopped onions, green chillies and grated ginger.

add in onion, green chillies and ginger to tempered spices

5)Saute for 1 minute till the raw smell leaves.

Roasting Rava

6)Add in suji | rava into the onion mixture and start roasting. Add in salt at this point.

7)I add a teaspoon of ghee when roasting the sooji for added aroma. This step is optional.

roast on medium low heat with a teaspoon of oil

8)Even though I used roasted suji, I prefer to roast it further for 2 to 3 minutes till golden brown which adds nutty aroma to the cooked Upma.

9)Meanwhile I took 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rava. Bring water to a good boil. It has to be hot when you pour into the Upma.

Cooking Upma

10)Once the suji is roasted well, reduce the flame and pour the hot water little at time and mix gently till sooji starts to thicken.

11)Now the upma has thickened up.

12)Add a tablespoon of ghee over the Upma. Sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves.

13)Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for 5 minutes.

14)After 5 minutes, open the lid, fluff up the upma and add extra 1 tablespoon ghee, squeeze of lemon juice and mix.

15)Turn off the flame. Cover again and let the Upma sit covered for another 5 minutes.

16)Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Expert Tips

Choosing Rava (Sooji) - There are few varieties of suji available in the market these days. Bombay rava, fine suji, kesari rava, bansi rava are the most common suji you can find. Bombay rava is the most common one used to make upma. But you can use bansi rava which is a coarsely ground form of wheat made from "Bansi" a traditional wheat.

Double Roasted Rava - I prefer to buy this variety of sooji because it has longer shelf life and I store them in pantry. Even though I use roasted suji when making upma, I prefer to roast it further for 2 to 3 minutes till golden brown which adds nutty aroma to the cooked upma.

FAQs

What is Rava or Suji?

The main ingredient in making upma is rava as we call it in South India. It is also called as 'suji' or 'sooji' in Hindi, 'semolina flour' or 'cream of wheat' in English. Suji known as rava is a by-product of durum wheat used to make many Indian recipes like upma, kesari, rava dosa, rava kichadi and rava idli.

Can I use Idli rava for making upma?

Traditionally upma is made with suji derived from durum wheat. But in some parts of South India we make upma using rice rava which is known as Arisi upma or Rice upma. I have another version of making upma using rice flour and a recipe for rice rava kozhukattai.

Why my upma turned out lumpy?

Upma should be mixed constantly when you pour in hot liquid mixture. Make sure you pour hot water in steady stream when mixing evenly. This prevents upma turning lumpy.

Can I add peanuts instead of cashews?

Yes peanuts can be used when making upma instead of cashews. I prefer cashews because I like the taste of it. You can use both cashews and peanuts. Make sure you roast them well.

Can I add any vegetables when making upma?

Yes you can add any finely chopped vegetables in your upma. Make sure you chop them fine and also saute them in oil really well before adding rava.

Can I add tomatoes in upma?

Even though it is not traditional to add tomatoes in upma. You can use chopped tomatoes, add it when sauteing onions.

How to Make Ragi Rava Upma?

Nowadays millets rava is readily available in the market. Specially ragi rava is getting popular. You can use ragi rava as a healthy alternative. I have made ragi rava upma and shared it already.

Is upma good for weight loss?

Upma is a healthy breakfast option if you want something light. You can make it light and healthy by reducing the amount of oil and ghee used in this recipe. Load your upma with vegetables and it can be very healthy for you. And remember anything in moderation is good for you.

📖 Get Recipe

If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @aarthi198689@gmail.com and I'll help as soon as I can.

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook,Pinterest ,Youtube and Twitter for more Yummy Tummy inspiration.

IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR ANYTHING FROM YUMMY TUMMY, MAKE SURE TO POST IT AND TAG ME SO I CAN SEE ALL OF YOUR CREATIONS!! #YUMMYTUMMYAARTHI AND @YUMMYTUMMYAARTHI ON INSTAGRAM!

More Upma Recipes to try for breakfast

602

About Aarthi

Over the past few years I’ve been on a mission to find and create recipes that I can make from scratch. I hope you enjoy the recipes on this blog as they are tried and true from my kitchen to yours!

Comments

5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)