Bursting with flavor and goodness, Upma is the classic Indian breakfast dish that will leave you with a satiated tummy and a happy mind. Upma is made by carefully roasting coarse semolina and cooking it in boiling water. It is then infused with oodles of flavor by adding fresh vegetables, nuts, herbs, a hint of spice, and lots of love.
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Upma pleasantly surprises you with its soft, grainy texture and subtle, earthy aroma, leaving you completely satisfied with every single bite. Served piping hot, it was a regular in my home growing up. On repeat right alongside other Indian breakfast classics like Poha, Sheera, Thalipeeth, and Methi Thepla.
I still remember waking up to the heavenly aroma of my mom roasting semolina (also known as Rava or Rawa in Marathi and Sooji in Hindi), my heart instantly filled with excitement for a comforting start to the day.
Rava Upma is popular across the length and breadth of India, where it's enjoyed as a light yet satisfying meal. Its roots, however, trace back to the southern parts of India, where Upma (or Uppitu) is much more than food - it's tradition. In South India, Upma is relished as both breakfast and tiffin, often cooked with seasonal veggies and served in Udupi restaurants. If you haven't yet tried Upma in its authentic form, you're missing out on one of the simplest yet most soulful dishes in Indian cuisine.
We all know that, much as we would like it, it is not always possible to eat out. So I am going to share with you my super simple, no-fail recipe to make perfectly light, fluffy, and all-time delicious vegetable Upma.
Pro Tips
- Always use the coarse variety of sooji to make Upma, easily available in Indian grocery stores.
- If you only have fine sooji, for this recipe, use a 1:2 sooji-to-water ratio.
- Keep stirring the sooji while roasting, making sure it does not burn or become over-browned.
- Before adding the roasted sooji, make sure that the water comes to a rolling boil. This will ensure that your Upma becomes light and fluffy.
- Always turn the heat to simmer while adding the roasted sooji, so that it cooks evenly.
How to Make Sooji Upma
In a medium pan, dry roast sooji for 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently. Make sure that the Rava is not browning too quickly. Turn the heat off once the sooji starts to look slightly brown, and continue to stir as it will keep browning further. Take out the roasted sooji in a bowl and reserve.
Wipe the pan with a dry towel and heat oil in it. Add mustard seeds and allow them to pop. Lower the heat to medium-low and add cumin seeds and cook for 20 seconds. Add soaked chana dal, urad dal, curry leaves, green chilies, and cashews. Cook until the cashews start to turn light golden, around 1 minute. Add onions and cook until they start to turn translucent.
Add the veggies; I like to add tomatoes and carrots. Cook for another minute as the tomatoes start to soften. Add water, salt, and allow the water to come to a rolling boil. Then add roasted sooji 2 to 3 spoonfuls at a time, mixing it clockwise.
Continue to add and mix in the rest of the sooji. Cook covered on low heat for 5 minutes.
Garnish with Cilantro and fresh lemon juice. Serve hot, garnished with freshly grated coconut, sev, or bhujia! A spoonful of coconut chutney pairs really well with hot upma. Enjoy with a hot cup of adrakwali chai.
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Recipe
Rava Upma Recipe {Light, Fluffy, and Ready in Under 20 Minutes}
Equipment
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup coarse sooji rava/semolina
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons urad dal
- 2 teaspoons chana dal
- 8 curry leaves
- 2 green chilies
- 15 cashews broken into pieces
- 1 large onion finely diced
- 1 tomato diced
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 cups water
- ¼ cup cilantro finely chopped
- ¼ lemon
- 2 tablespoons fresh grated coconut frozen works
Optional veggies
- ½ cup green peas
- ½ cup diced carrots
Instructions
- Rinse and soak the Chana dal and Ural daal in water
- In a medium pan dry roast sooji for 5 minutes on medium heat stirring frequently. Make sure that the Rava is not browning too quickly. Turn the heat off once the sooji starts to look slightly brown and continue to stir as it will keep browning further. Take out roasted sooji in a bowl and reserve.
- Wipe the pan with a dry towel and heat oil in it. Add mustard seeds and allow them to pop. Lower the heat to medium-low and add cumin seeds and cook for 20 seconds.
- Drain the water from the chana dal and Urad dal and add it to the tempering along with curry leaves, green chilies and cashews. Cook until the cashews start to turn light golden, around 1 minute.
- Add onions and cook until they start to turn translucent. Add any of the optional veggies, I like to add tomatoes and carrots. Cook for another minute as the tomatoes start to soften.
- Add salt & water and allow the water to come to a rolling boil. Then add roasted sooji 2 to 3 spoonfuls at a time, mixing it clockwise. Continue to add and mix in the rest of the sooji. Cook covered on low heat for 5 minutes.
- Garnish with Cilantro and fresh lemon juice. Serve with fresh coconut, sev or bhujia
Notes
- Always use the coarse variety of sooji or rava to make Upma
- Keep stirring the Upma while roasting making sure it does not burn or become over browned
- Before adding the roasted sooji, make sure that the water comes to a rolling boil. This will ensure that your Upma becomes light and fluffy
- Always turn the heat to simmer while adding the roasted sooji, so that it cooks evenly
Nutrition
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Sonam Patel says
Best upma ever. Me and my family loved. I tried different types of upma but this is best one . Thank you for this recipe.
Archana says
Thank you for the lovely feedback
Shanthini says
This is my second time making it. Already had roasted coarse upma. This time I used only 2 cups water and first time exactly your recipe with 3 cups water. Both times came out well. Thank you.
Archana says
You are most welcome! Roasted sooji is a timesaver for sure
Ameera says
Loved this recipe but wanted to know how long do you soak the daal for? As my upma was a bit hard due to the daal not being fully cooked.
Archana says
Dal usually will have a bit of a nutty bite and wont be too soft. You can also soak it in hot water next time for 10 minutes or so.
Nicole K. says
This turned out perfect! Thank you for your recipes, they make me feel like an excellent cook!
Heather says
Is this good if you make it ahead of time or does it need to be made fresh?
Archana Mundhe says
Upma is perfect to make ahead!
Heather says
Great news, thank you! We're looking for make-ahead breakfasts because we're too slow-thinking/slow-moving on weekday mornings before school to cook much from scratch, and we're tired of our cereal routine. 🙂
Archana Mundhe says
I cant wait for your feednack!
Heather says
One more question! (I still haven't had a chance to try this yet - its chance is up this week!) Is the urad dal split or whole? (And does it matter?)
In the picture it looks like whole, skinless. I have skinless urad dal but it's either split or else there are just a lot of broken pieces. (I need to label things better, I guess.)
Archana Mundhe says
Hi Heather! I can't wait for you to try Upma. You are right in the video I have used whole skinless urad dal. Traditinally skinless urad dal is added and its ok even if its broken. It adds a nice nutty bite to the upma.