Restaurant Style Upma Recipe (Rava Upma)

Restaurant Style Upma Recipe (Rava Upma) is a classic Indian breakfast made with roasted semolina also known as Sooji. Its very easy, healthy, nutritious and filling dish. You can make this dish in less than 15-20 mins.I’ve grown up eating Semiya Upma, Poha, Idli ,Dosa, Pongal for breakfast.

Rava Upma or Uppittu recipe is one of the common breakfast recipes prepared in Karnataka.In many hotels, this upma and kesaribath is served together as chow chow bath.In some places, Kharabath is served instead of uppittu. Follow the recipe and bet you will get the perfect upma just as served it restaurants. and share your feedback with me

Today I have shared the basic version of Karnataka style upma or uppittu just like hotel ones. Its a very simple recipe with easily available ingredients at home. My mom always use Bansi rava (Medium yellow rava) and iron kadai but I used Bombay rava / Upma rava(coarse white ones) and steel pan.

For variations, we can add onions and finely chopped vegetables, masala powders or spices and call it as masala upma or vegetable upma. Water to rava ratio and oil + ghee decides the texture and softness of upma. If you like dry upma, use rava and water in the ratio of 1:2.5. But I used 1:3 as I wanted soft hotel style upma. 

You can also see other breakfast recipes

• Avarekalu Upma
• Vegetable Panniyaram (Paddu)
• Karnataka Style Mandakki Usli
• Spicy Tawa Idli

WHAT IS UPMA?

Upma is also known as uppumavu or uppittu is a breakfast dish common in South India, Maharashtra, and Sri Lanka. Rava Upma is a thick, porridge-like breakfast dish that is made from course semolina that has been dry-roasted.

WHICH SEMOLINA/SOOJI/RAVA CAN I USE FOR THIS RECIPE?

There’s a huge variety of semolina/rava available in the market. Most commonly used are bansi rava and bombay sooji rava which are easily available in the indian grocery stores or amazon.I have used roasted bombay sooji rava for this recipe.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BANSI RAVA AND SOOJI RAVA?

Both kinds of semolina (rava) are obtained from wheat, but different varieties. Bansi rava is darker in colour than plain sooji rava. Both are coarsely ground forms of wheat where in sooji rava is a finer version of the two.

Bansi rava is quite popular in Karnataka and in many other South Indian homes.In northern and western india, rava is used to make halwa, kheer, upma, dhokla and is also added to bhatura and poori dough whereas in south india, rava used to make instant rava idli, quick rava dosa, rava uttapam, kesari bath, pongal and upma.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH RAVA UPMA?

Rava Upma is served with coconut chutney , kesaribath ,sambar or peanut chutney powder and a cup of filter coffee.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup sooji/semolina/rava
• 1 teaspoon jeera (cumin) seeds
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoon split urad dal
• 2 teaspoon split chana dal
• 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 3 green chillies ,finely chopped
• a pinch asafoetida (hing)
• 2.5 cups water
• .5 cup milk
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoon ghee
• juice of half lemon
• 2 tablespoon coriander leaves (cilantro)

HOW TO MAKE RESTAURANT STYLE UPMA RECIPE (RAVA UPMA) STEP BY STEP

1.To make this upma, gather all ingredients .

2. Start by roasting the sooji along with 1 teaspoon of cumin (jeera) until it’s fragrant on medium low flame in a pan. Do not burn or brown the sooji from bottom so be careful.Remove it into a clean dry bowl or plate.Note:You can do this step of roasting sooji in advance and save time for busy mornings.

3.Add oil in a heavy bottom pan, add mustard seeds, channa dal ,urad dal ,cashew nuts and saute for 1 minute until they start changing color.

4. Next add chopped ginger ,green chillies , asafetida (hing) and curry leaves. Saute another 20 secs.

5. Next add water, milk and let the water come to boil.Do not add salt directly at this stage, milk will curdle.

6. Once the water & milk comes to a boil, start adding the (roasted sooji + jeera) and salt little at a time.Stir sooji  continuously after each addition in one direction with a spatula to avoid lumps.

7. Then cover the pan with lid and set heat to low. Let it remain like that for 2-3 mins still all moisture is absorbed.Turn off the heat.

8. Remove lid ,add lemon juice, coriander leaves and 2 tablespoon of ghee.Ghee is optional but recommended.Mix well.

9.Serve the upma hot with coconut chutney ,pickle ,sambar .

TIPS TO MAKE THE BEST UPMA RECIPE

Here is my tips in making good rava upma at home.

1. Do not burn the rava while roasting it. Keep the flame on medium-low and mix it constantly until it fragrant.Adding cumin or jeera while roasting rava enhances the upma flavor.But you can completely avoid jeera if you don’t like.
2. You can roast upma rava beforehand and store it in an airtight container. This saves a lot of time during the busy morning or days.
3. Sooji to water ratio is another important aspect to get restaurant style upma. So use 3 cups water for 1 cup of sooji – this results in soft and creamy consistency. I have tried 2 ,2.5 cups, but I think 3 cups works best.If you like even more thin or watery consistency upma use 4 cups of water for 1 cup of sooji.
4. In this recipe I have added 2.5 cups of water and 1/2 cup of milk.Milk is optional but it definitely adds to the flavor and makes upma smooth.
5. Please do not reduce or skip the quantity of oil and ghee. You cannot achieve the restaurant style soft texture.You may use even more for a softer and tastier upma.
6. Do not add all the rava to the water in one go. Add the roasted rava little at a time stirring after each addition. This way the upma will not form any lumps.
7. Don’t forget to add lemon or lime juice along with coriander for garnish at the end it really helps to enhance flavors of the upma. Some people also add 2 tablespoon of fresh grated coconut in the end.
8. The final texture of upma also depends on the type of rava/sooji that you are using to make. So if you are not getting desired output after following these steps try going for a different brand of sooji.
9. Tastes the best when served hot or warm.
10. Do not skip curry leaves.More the better.
11. Add more green chillies If you like spicy upma. You can also slit the chilli instead of chopping finely.
12. This recipe can also be made using bansi rava (Yellow colored sooji) but I highly recommend to use rava sooji(fine variety) for this recipe. 

VARIATIONS OF UPMA

As mentioned, upma is a versatile dish so there are many variations of it.

• You can make many variations of upma by replacing Sooji with other ingredients like Bread Upma ,Vermicelli Upma ,Poha ,Sabudana Upma ,Broken Wheat/Dalia upma ,rice upma ,oats upma.
• Masala upma, which is also known as kharabath, for example, includes vangibath powder or sambar masala or garam masala as well as red chili powder .
• You can also add vegetables of your choice like peas ,carrot ,beans ,capsicum and corn to make healthy vegetable upma.
• You can use bansi rava (Yellow colored sooji) as well.
• Few people also add grated coconut before serving.

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