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rava upma ready to serve
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5 from 3 votes

Rava Upma Recipe

Upma recipe is a popular and most basic south Indian breakfast with semolina or sooji. It may or may not contain vegetables, hearty, wholesome and filling. Ready in 20 minutes, this sooji upma is a perfect choice for busy mornings. It is one of those instant breakfast recipes with a handful of basic ingredients. Vegetarian and can be easily made vegan.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time20 mins
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: rava upma, upma
Servings: 3
Calories: 392kcal
Author: Harini

Ingredients

  • 1 cup semolina Bombay rava
  • 2.5 cups water add 2.75 cups for softer upma
  • 1 large onion thinly sliced
  • 2-3 green chilies slit
  • 8 cashews
  • 1 tablespoon channa dal
  • 2 teaspoons urad dal
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 15 curry leaves
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 tablespoon ghee
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  • Heat 2 teaspoons ghee in heavy pan. Add sooji and roast over medium heat for 4-5 minutes if you are using roasted upma rava. For plain rava roast for 8-10 minutes. Remove to a plate and keep aside.
    roasting rava for upma
  • In the same pan heat 2 tablespoons ghee and 1 tablespoon oil. Add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, cashew nuts, curry leaves, slit green chilli and minced ginger. Fry well for a minute in medium heat.
    sauteing mustard seeds, chana dal curry leaves, cashews, chana dal, green chilies for upma
  • Add thinly sliced onions and saute for a minute.
    sauteing onions in oil
  • Next add 2.5 cups of water and bring it to full rolling boil. Add few drops of oil and salt to taste.
    rava added to boiling water
  • Now lower the flame and add roasted sooji little by little, stirring constantly as you add. It will form some lumps, just break them and keep stirring.
    making rava upma
  • Once all the water is absorbed, cover the pan and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Switch off the flame, add few drops of ghee and fluff up the upma. Serve this breakfast dish immedietly.
    rava upma ready to serve

Video

Notes

  • To make upma use roasted or double roasted fine sooji. or upma rava also know Bombay rava. Even if you are using roasted sooji, always roast it for few minutes in ghee for flavorful non sticky upma.
  • Before making upma, you have to roast the rava really well for best results. I prefer to roast the rava in ghee for flavorful upma. If you are cutting calories you can opt for dry roasting and do the tempering in ghee.
  • Usually rava upma is tempered with ghee. Restaurants use vanaspati, which gives flavor but not good for health. To get the same texture as vanaspati you can use a mix of ghee and oil.
  • One more tip for flavorful upma is serving it with a drizzle of ghee or coconut oil. We do ghee for rava upma and coconut oil for arisi upma though.
  • You can vegetables like finely chopped carrots, green peas, beans, corn in this recipe. If using vegetables add after sauteing onions, saute very well before adding water. Also add 1/2 cup extra water.

Nutrition

Serving: 3g | Calories: 392kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 111mg | Potassium: 137mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 189IU | Vitamin C: 104mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 3mg