Looking for a quick breakfast recipe for your rushy weekdays? If Yes, then this South Indian Rava Upma Recipe, a delectable savoury porridge made with semolina/rava/sooji will definitely be a keeper and your breakfast is sorted in no time. The flavour, taste and texture of piping hot upma is so amazing that you can’t resist yourself from digging into it. It makes a satisfying meal, especially with your cup of tea or filter coffee on the side!!
The word uppu means salt and mavu, pindi, or hittu means flour, hence the name uppumavu, uppindi or uppittu as known in different regional languages. Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore it!! Soft crumbly upma may not be your first choice but it is the ultimate comfort food and comes to the rescue for women. The one food you can make in a rush, one that is ideal when you are ill and the first dish cooked in many bachelor kitchens. It’s so versatile that you can make it with rava, vermicelli or millets and incorporate variations in flavour. The humble upma is an evergreen classic and can be eaten for breakfast, brunch, or as a snack!!
Watch Quick Video: How to make Upma
Steps to follow for Rava Upma Recipe:
1- Roast Semolina/Rava/Sooji over medium heat until fragrant, it takes around 5 to 6 minutes. Rava shouldn’t turn brown from bottom, so, be careful and stir continuously while roasting.
2- Remove Rava from the pan, transfer it to another bowl and set aside.
3- To the same pan over medium heat, add 1.5-2 tablespoons oil/ghee . Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chilli, urad dal, chana dal and few cashews. Let the mustard seeds pop and lentils turn slight brown.
4- At this stage, add finely chopped ginger, green chillies, few curry leaves and onion. Cook for 2 minutes until the onions turn translucent and are soft.
NOTE:
- You can do the step of roasting Rava in advance and save time for busy mornings.
- You can also reduce oil/ghee if you will eat the Upma immediately. But, if you want to have it later, then you need to add more oil/ghee to retain the texture of upma.
5- Add 2.5 cups of water. Then, add salt to the water. The rule of thumb usually is to add 1:2 ratio of Rava to Water respectively. But, it becomes too dry after some time. So, I find 2.5 cups of water good enough to keep the consistency slightly fluffy yet soft.
6- Now, let the water come to a boil. Start adding in the roasted rava little at a time. Whisk rava after each addition in one direction with a spatula. Add in all the rava, little by little until all of it is absorbed by water.
7- Then, cover the pan with a lid and lower the heat. Let it remain like that for 2 minutes.
8- Remove lid and add 1 teaspoon ghee . This is optional but recommended. Turn off the heat. Garnish with some coriander. Mix well and close lid again for 3-5 minutes before serving. Remove the lid, fluff up the upma with a fork.
Serving Suggestions:
- Serve upma warm with a side of peanut chutney, sambar, coconut chutney, ginger chutney or lemon pickle!!
- A generous squeeze of lemon juice over the upma brings out the flavours and makes it a delightful treat.
- Upma makes for a great lunch box option as well.
- Upma Pesarattu is a very popular breakfast from Andhra….Pesarattu…..Coming up soon on blog.
A Quick Summary:
Simple Rava Upma Recipe | South Indian Sooji Upma Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Semolina Rava/Sooji
- 1.5 Tablespoon Oil/Ghee
- 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 Red Chilli
- 1/2 tsp Urad Dal
- 1/2 tsp Chana Dal
- 10 Cashews
- 1 Onion chopped
- 1 inch piece Ginger finely chopped or grated
- Few Curry Leaves
- 1-2 Green Chillies finely chopped
- 2.5 cups Water
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon Ghee clarified butter, Optional
- Coriander for Garnish
Instructions
- Roast Semolina over medium heat with constant stirring until fragrant, it takes around 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to another bowl.
- To the same pan over medium heat, add tablespoons oil/ghee. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chilli, urad dal, chana dal and few cashews. Let the mustard seeds pop and lentils turn slight brown.
- Add finely chopped ginger, green chillies, few curry leaves and onion. Cook for 2 minutes until the onions are soft.
- Add 2.5 cups of water. Add salt to taste.
- When water starts boiling, add roasted rava little at a time stirring continuously with a spatula. Add in all the rava, little by little until all of it is absorbed by water.
- Cover the pan with a lid and lower the heat. Let it remain like that for 2 minutes.
- Remove lid and add 1 teaspoon ghee (optional). Turn off the heat. Garnish with some coriander.
- Close lid & rest for 3-5 minutes before serving.
My Notes:
- The choice of Semolina/Rava/Sooji is very important for making a good Upma.
- Make sure that you roast the rava well before you make Upma. If it’s not roasted properly, you end up with a sticky upma. So, take your time to roast over medium heat for about 5-6 minutes to achieve that perfect soft and fluffy upma.
- To save time and to make upma quickly, you can roast the rava in bulk and keep using it as required.
- Water to rava ratio is very important, so keep that in mind. The proportion of rava to water is very important for the right texture of the Upma. I always use 2.5 cups of water per cup of Rava and it gives me perfect Upma every time. For softer melt in the mouth upma, add 3 cups of water for 1 cup of rava.
- Stir continuously after adding rava, in order to avoid formation of any lumps.
- Use ghee and oil generously for this upma recipe. I have used 1.5 tablespoons oil, you may use even more for a softer and tastier upma. You can also add a teaspoon ghee at the end to enhance the flavours.
- Do not skip adding ginger, it gives a wonderful flavour and taste to the Upma.
- You can also include vegetables of your choice to make it healthy.
Check out other Breakfast Recipes and Andhra Recipes from blog!!
Most Popular Breakfast Recipes on Blog:
Many more to come!!…..STAY TUNED!!
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Happy Cooking 
Cheers!!
Padma.
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