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 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.
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
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 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.
4)Add in finely chopped onions, green chillies and grated ginger.
5)Saute for 1 minute till the raw smell leaves.
Roasting Rava
6)Add in suji | rava into the onion mixture and start roasting.
7)I add a teaspoon of ghee when roasting the sooji for added aroma. This step is optional.
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.
How to Make Instant Upma Mix
Even though making upma takes less than 15 minutes to make. Somedays when you don't have any time on hand instant mix can be very convenient. Instant upma mix is readily available in the market stocking them in your pantry makes your life easier. But you can make your own upma mix easily at home. I have shared a video for homemade upma mix in my youtube channel.
For upma mix
- 2 tablespoon Urad dal
- 2 tablespoon Split Chana dal
- 2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 6 Dry red chillies
- 4 tablespoon Cashews
- 1 teaspoon Asafoetida
- 2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
- a handful curry leaves
- 3 cups Suji | Rava | Semolina
For making upma
- 1 cup Rava Upma Mix
- 2 cups Hot Water
How to Make Upma Mix
Heat oil in a kadai. Add in whole spices and saute them for 2 minutes till golden. Add in turmeric powder and mix well. Sprinkle in suji and roast for 4 to 5 minutes till golden. Cool this and store in an air tight container in fridge.
When cooking upma, bring 2 cups of water to a full boil, sprinkle in 1 cup sooji gently and mix till thickened. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Once cooked, gently fluff up the upma, turn off the heat. Cover and rest for another 5 minutes. Serve hot.
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.
Wheat rava is often confused with bombay rava. Even though both can be used to make upma, it is entirely different.
Unroasted Rava
As mentioned in the name it is a non roasted rava. The most common rava which is available in the market. If you are using this, you have to roast it prior cooking.
Most organic brands available in the market is unroasted. Since it is not roasted, it has very low shelf life. You have to store in fridge or freezer else it might get small bugs or insect.
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
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.
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.
Roast rava | suji really well till golden brown. Upma made with roasted rava always turn out fluffy. Make sure you use hot water for cooking upma which result in fluffy upma.
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.
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.
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.
Even though it is not traditional to add tomatoes in upma. You can use chopped tomatoes, add it when sauteing onions.
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.
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
Upma Recipe | Rava Upma Recipe | Suji ka Upma
Ingredients
Upma Recipe
- 1 cup Rava | Suji or Semolina Flour
- 1 medium Onion chopped finely
- 2 Green chilli chopped finely
- 1 teaspoon Ginger grated
- Salt to taste
- 2 cups Water
- 2 tablespoon Coriander leaves for garnishing
- 1 teaspoon Lemon juice to taste
For Tempering
- 2 tablespoon Ghee
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 2 teaspoon Split Chana dal
- 10 piece Cashews
- 1 teaspoon Split Urad dal
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Asafoetida
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
Instructions
How to Make Upma
- Heat oil in a kadai. Once oil is hot enough, add in chana dal, cashews first and cook on low heat till it gets light golden in colour. Keep mixing for even browning. Now add in mustard seeds and urad dal. Let them sizzle till golden. Add in asafoetida and curry leaves.
- Add in finely chopped onions, green chillies and grated ginger. Saute for 1 minute till the raw smell leaves.
- Add in suji | rava into the onion mixture and start roasting. I add a teaspoon of ghee when roasting the sooji for added aroma. This step is optional. 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.
- Meanwhile I used 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.
- 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.
- Add a tablespoon of ghee over the Upma. Sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves. Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, open the lid, fluff up the upma and add extra 1 tablespoon ghee, squeeze of lemon juice and mix. Turn off the flame. Cover again and let the Upma sit covered for another 5 minutes. After 5 minutes mix the upma gently and Serve hot.
Video
Notes
Roasting Rava
This step is essential to get best tasting upma. Even if you use unroasted, single roasted or double roasted rava, I suggest you to roast it well before cooking. If you are using unroasted rava, roast them in a separate pan with some ghee or oil for few minutes. Double roasted rava doesn't need to be roasted in a separate pan, instead I roast them with the onion or vegetable mixture.Rava & Water Ratio for Upma
Water to rava ratio totally depends to your taste and preference. The more water you use the softer the texture will be. I am sharing the water ratio below so you can choose how you want your upma to be. The one thing you have to keep in mind is to use hot boiling water when cooking.- 2 cups water : 1 cup rava - for fluffy suji ka upma which my family prefers.
- 21/2 cups water : 1 cup rava - cooking upma in heavy bottom pan like cast iron or ceramic will absorb more water.
- 3 cups water : 1 cup rava - softer upma which is equally delicious.
- 4 cups water : 1 cup rava - results in kichadi like texture. I use this measurement for making rava kichadi.
Cooking Method
Pour hot water slowly while mixing the rava evenly for lump free upma. Also mix the sooji with the water till it get thick then cover the pan and cook. Once upma is cooked, you have to let it rest covered for at least 5 minutes before serving which makes the upma fluffier.Ghee vs Oil
The combination of oil and ghee enhances the flavour of the upma. I like to start cooking the upma in oil. Ghee can be added in the end for flavour.Lentils & Nuts
Split urad dal, chana dal, peanuts and cashews adds crunchy texture to upma. Toasted nuts and lentils adds nutty aroma to upma.Nutrition
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.
hemakrish
Nice step by step method n pictures.Even a kid can prepare seeing this. Though upma is a simple dish, needs to be done the right way.I like the colour of the dish.And first time seeing curd being used.Good tip.Wl try soon. Thanks.
Anonymous
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Hari Chandana
Lovely and colorful upma.. looks perfect!!
beingFab
Thank you for this, Aarthi!! My upma always turns out dry - I'm planning to try it out this week 🙂
Anonymous
Hi Aarthi thanks
I made the Rava upma it came very well thanks again
By the way I live in London.
Janabai Vellasamy
Awesome dear
Anonymous
Seems so deliciously cooked.
Vijayalakshmi Jayaprakash
Looks yummy
Anonymous
Hi Arthi....can we use broken wheat sooji instead of rawa?if so wat is the quantity of water to be used
Aarthi
@AnonymousYes u can use. U need 2 cup water for 1 cup wheat rava
Kavi Tinku
hI Aarthi, Thank you for all your recipes.
Just a small clarification, no need to fry the rawa for preparing upma? i see you add in straight without frying....kindly advice....
Reem Sunil
Ur second sentence says to add rava to ghee for roasting.
Aarthi
@Kavi Tinkui didn't took pic of it. but roast rava in ghee a little. u can use unroasted rava as well
Aarthi
@Reem Sunilyes u have use roast them
Anonymous
Why do u add curd?? What purpose?
Aarthi
@Anonymouscurd gives a soft and melt it mouth texture. Even it cools the upma wont get dry.
South indian style
Going to try for my breakfast
Upma recipe
Anonymous
Hi aarthi i am u r big big biggggggggggg fan, GOd bless u
Lakshmi Priya
Hi Aarthi,
I am new to cooking and had been sincerely following your recipes. Some of them had turned up really good (ghee pongal and sambhar are hit at home). I tried this recipe yesterday, the upuma turned thick quickly before I could turn the stove to low flame. So at the end the upuma turned little dry, although the taste was good. Any thoughts on what is the mistake that I made?
Note: I prepared half the quantity of the prescribed recipe.
Anonymous
Hi Arthi, can you please post javarasi upma receipe. Thanks in advance 🙂
neha khare
Lovely recipe!
jith
Wow yummy yummy upuma. I done in my home with surabhi sooji its mouth watering. Thanks for your recipes.
husaindeen himazy
hi arthi, we should add fresh milk or coconut milk..?
Aarthi
It is fresh milk
VVSM
Hi Aarthi,how your receipes turns out so fantabulous...?Me and my hubby are not a fan of upma,but I tried this today and my hubby likes it so much....and he asked did u followed yummy tummy Aarthi's recipe....?
Yeah,whenever I tries your recipes it turns out awesome.Thank you very much.
naziya careem
Thank you my husband loved it 😊
Anonymous
Hi Arthi,
Ur receipes are amazing, i got confidance to cook well because of u,thank u so much
Ammu
Hi Arthi,
Kindly clarify at which step we need to add curd.
Aarthi
add it along with water
Nandhini
Madam whether the vegetables are cooked when we saute it for few minutes as you mentioned
Shwetha
Wow...Rava Upma Recipe looks so yummy. Very colorful and delicious. First time ever I have come across adding milk to Upma. Sure I will try this method. Thank you for the recipe.