This easy Upma recipe is a classic Indian breakfast prepared with roasted semolina (sooji), and a few spices in South Indian homes and restaurants. Rava Upma is an easy, healthy, nutritious, and filling dish. Also known by other names like sooji ka upma, uppittu, uppumavu, or uppeet.
If you're looking for a simple and enticing breakfast dish that's not only delicious, healthy, and wholesome but also keeps you feeling full and energized throughout the day, it has to be Rava Upma. You can make this dish in less than 15-20 minutes.
I grew up eating upma at home at least once a week, along with other variations like bread upma, vermicelli upma, avrekalu upma, dalia upma (broken wheat upma), and oats upma. My mom used to pack it into my school lunch box along with peanut chutney and seasonal fruits.
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What is Upma?
Rava Upma is also known as uppumavu or uppittu. This breakfast dish is very common in South India, Maharashtra, and Sri Lanka. This thick, porridge-like breakfast recipe is made from course dry-roasted semolina.
Rava Upma, or Uppittu recipe, is one of the most common breakfast recipes prepared in Karnataka. In many hotels and tiffin centers, this uppittu and kesaribath are served together as chow chow bath. In some places, kharabath is served instead of uppittu.
Today, I am sharing the basic version of Karnataka-style upma, just like the hotel version. It's a very simple recipe with easily available ingredients at home.
My mom always uses bansi rava (medium yellow rava) and iron kadai, but I used Bombay rava (coarse white ones) and a steel pan. You can check out my rava payasam (sooji kheer) made from Bombay rava
This is a no-onion rava upma recipe. For variations, we can add onions, finely chopped vegetables, masala powders, or spices and call it masala upma or vegetable upma.
Water to rava ratio and oil + ghee decide the texture and softness of the dish. So if you like it dry, use rava and water in the ratio of 1:2.5. But I have used 1:3 to get soft hotel-style upma.
Ingredients
- Rava/Semolina/Sooji: Use Bombay rava (coarse variety) to make this recipe. Semolina is available in Indian grocery stores.
- Mustard seeds, cumin, urad dal & chana dal: added for tempering.
- Cashews: added for crunch and taste. It's optional.
- Veggies: onions, green chilies and ginger.
- Curry leaves: added to enhance the flavor.
- Hing (Asafoetida): used for flavoring. You can also use gluten-free asafoetida.
- Milk: adding milk enhances the flavor of the upma, however, you can skip and replace it with water.
How to Make Rava Upma
Start by roasting 1 cup of sooji (rava) along with 1 teaspoon of cumin (jeera) until it's fragrant on a medium-low flame in a pan.
Do not burn or brown the sooji from the bottom, so be careful. Remove it to a clean, dry bowl or plate.
**Note: You can do this step of roasting sooji in advance and save time for busy mornings.
Add 2 tablespoons oil (or ghee) to a heavy bottom pan, add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 2 teaspoons chana dal, 2 teaspoons urad dal, and 8-10 cashew nuts, and saute for 1 minute until they change color.
Next, add 1 teaspoon chopped ginger, 3 green chilies (finely chopped), 1 big pinch of asafoetida (hing), and 1-2 stalks of curry leaves. Saute another 30 seconds.
Next, add 2 ½ cups water, ½ cup milk and let the water come to a boil. Do not add salt directly at this stage; milk will curdle.
Once the water & milk come to a boil, add salt, and start adding the (roasted sooji + jeera) a little at a time. Stir continuously after each addition in one direction with a spatula to avoid lumps.
Then, cover the pan with the lid and set the heat to low. Let it remain like that for 2-3 minutes until the moisture gets absorbed. Turn off the heat.
Remove the lid, add the juice of ½ lemon, 2 tablespoons coriander leaves, and two tablespoons of ghee. Ghee is optional but recommended. Mix well.
Serve hot with coconut chutney, pickle, and sambar.
Serving Suggestions
Serve Rava upma hot with coconut chutney, peanut chutney powder, or sambar, and a cup of filter coffee or masala tea.
Upma and kesari bath are often served together as a breakfast or snack combo in restaurants.
Storage Suggestions
- Make-ahead: You can roast the rava and store it in an airtight container for up to a month in a cool and dry place. When you want to make quick rava upma next time, use this pre-roasted rava.
- Store: You can store leftover semolina upma in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days in an airtight container.
- Freeze: You can freeze upma in a freezer-safe ziplock or container for up to 2 months.
- Reheat: Add a little bit of water and reheat in a microwave or cook on the stovetop until warm. If frozen, thaw it on the kitchen counter for a few hours before reheating.
Tips to Make the Best Sooji Upma Recipe
- Roast rava on low heat: Do not burn the Rava while roasting it. Keep the flame on medium-low and mix it constantly until it is fragrant. Adding cumin or jeera while roasting rava enhances the flavor. But you can completely avoid jeera if you don’t like it.
- Prepping Upma rava ahead of time: 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.
- Use the right ratio of rava to water: Sooji to water ratio is another important aspect of getting restaurant style upma. So use 3 cups of water for 1 cup of sooji - this results in a soft and creamy consistency. I have tried 2, 2.5 cups, but I think 3 cups work best. If you like even thin or watery consistency upma, use 4 cups of water for 1 cup of sooji.
- Milk: I have added 2 ½ cups of water and ½ cup of milk to this recipe. Milk is optional, but it definitely adds to the flavor.
- Don't skimp on oil and ghee: Please do not reduce or skip the quantity of oil and ghee. You cannot achieve the restaurant-style soft texture.
- Adding rava to the water: Do not add all the rava to the water in one go. Add the roasted Rava a little at a time, stirring after each addition to avoid lumps.
- Curry Leaves: Do not skip curry leaves. The more, the better.
Variations
- Masala Upma: Masala upma is a variation of Rava upma, also known as kharabath, in most tiffin centers in Karnataka. We generally use vangibath powder along with red chili powder for this.
- Vegetable Upma: You can also add vegetables of your choice, like onion, green peas, carrots, green beans, capsicum, and corn, to make a healthy vegetable upma recipe.
- Bansi Rava Variety: You can make this recipe using bansi rava (yellow-colored sooji), but I highly recommend using Bombay rava sooji (coarse variety).
- Fresh Coconut: A few people also add grated coconut before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
There's a huge variety of semolina available in the market. The most commonly used are bansi rava and Bombay sooji rava, which are easily available in Indian grocery stores or on Amazon. I used roasted bombay sooji rava for this recipe.
Both kinds of semolina (rava) are obtained from wheat, but they have different varieties. Bansi rava is darker in color than plain sooji rava. Both are coarsely ground forms of wheat, whereas sooji rava is a finer version of the two.
Yes, Rava upma is a healthy, wholesome, and nutritious breakfast option. Semolina is a good source of protein, fiber, B vitamins, iron, and magnesium. You can also add vegetables to make it extra nutritious.
This upma is made with semolina which is a cream of wheat and has gluten. You can make it gluten-free by substituting semolina with millet, quinoa, or rice rava.
Explore more breakfast recipes for your next meal.
Restaurant Style Upma Recipe (Rava Upma)
Ingredients
- 1 cup sooji/semolina/rava
- 1 teaspoon jeera (cumin) seeds
- 2 tablespoons oil or ghee
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoons split urad dal
- 2 teaspoons split chana dal
- 8-10 cashew-nuts
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced
- 3 green chilies finely chopped
- 2 stalks curry leaves
- a big pinch asafetida (hing)
- 2.5 cups water
- ½ cup milk
- salt to taste
- juice of half lemon
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (cilantro)
- 2 tablespoons ghee
Instructions
Stovetop Pot Method:
- Start by roasting the sooji along with one teaspoon of cumin (jeera) until it's fragrant on a medium-low flame in a pan.Do not burn or brown the sooji from the 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.
- Add oil to a heavy bottom pan, add mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, and cashew nuts, and saute for 1 minute until they change color.
- Next, add chopped ginger, green chilies, asafetida, and curry leaves. Saute another 20 seconds.
- Next add water, milk and let the water come to a boil. Do not add salt directly at this stage; milk will curdle.
- Once the water & milk comes to a boil, add salt, and start adding the (roasted sooji + jeera) a little at a time. Stir continuously after each addition in one direction with a spatula to avoid lumps.
- Then cover the pan with the lid and set the heat to low. Let it remain like that for 2-3 mins until the moisture gets absorbed. Turn off the heat.
- Remove lid, add lemon juice, coriander leaves, and two tablespoons of ghee. Ghee is optional but recommended. Mix well.
- Serve hot with coconut chutney, pickle, and sambar.
Video
Notes
Tips to Make the Best Upma Recipe
- Roast rava on low heat: Do not burn the Rava while roasting it. Keep the flame on medium-low and mix it constantly until it is fragrant. Adding cumin or jeera while roasting rava enhances the flavor. But you can completely avoid jeera if you don’t like it.
- Prepping Upma rava ahead of time: 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.
- Use the right ratio of rava to water: Sooji to water ratio is another important aspect of getting restaurant style upma. So use 3 cups of water for 1 cup of sooji - this results in a soft and creamy consistency. I have tried 2, 2.5 cups, but I think 3 cups work best. If you like even thin or watery consistency upma, use 4 cups of water for 1 cup of sooji.
- Milk: I have added 2 ½ cups of water and ½ cup of milk to this recipe. Milk is optional, but it definitely adds to the flavor.
- Don't skimp on oil and ghee: Please do not reduce or skip the quantity of oil and ghee. You cannot achieve the restaurant-style soft texture.
- Adding rava to the water: Do not add all the rava to the water in one go. Add the roasted Rava a little at a time, stirring after each addition to avoid lumps.
- Curry Leaves: Do not skip curry leaves. The more, the better.
Upma Recipe Variations
- Upma Varieties: You can make many variations of upma, like Bread Upma, Vermicelli Upma, Broken Wheat/Dalia upma, and oats upma by replacing sooji with other ingredients.
- Masala Upma: Masala upma is a variation of Rava upma, also known as kharabath, in most tiffin centers in Karnataka. We generally use vangibath powder along with red chili powder for this.
- Vegetable Upma: You can also add vegetables of your choice, like onion, green peas, carrots, green beans, capsicum, and corn, to make a healthy vegetable upma recipe.
- Bansi Rava Variety: You can make this recipe using bansi rava (yellow-colored sooji), but I highly recommend using Bombay rava sooji (coarse variety).
- Fresh Coconut: A few people also add grated coconut before serving.
Nutrition
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Shashi Bhagat
A quick question. The purpose of adding milk is to make the upma softer or just for a flavor?
Bhavana Patil
Hi Shashi, Milk enhances the taste of the upma and also makes it soft. I add it for the flavor. You can skip it and add equal quantity of water instead.
Sreedhara
Tried this for breakfast this morning. Thank you. It turned out to be the best upma i have eaten.
Bhavana Patil
Thank you so much Sreedhara.
Anonymous
You are the best!
Bhavana Patil
Thank you:)
Akshada
I tried it and it was awesome.....my husband and kid loves it alot....will definitely try again
Bhavana Patil
Hi Akshada, I am glad you liked the recipe, Thank you for sharing your feedback.
NH
Tried this recipe last week - it’s a great easy to follow recipe and I loved it except for the jeera flavor ! Somehow the jeera seemed out of place to me so will skip it the next time I make this .
Bhavana Patil
Hi, Thank you so much for trying my recipe and sharing me your feedback.
Kess
Hi!
Do you have keto version of this?
Also do you have a tamarind rice keto version, I've a few of your keto recipes already and they came out FANTASTIC!!!!
Bhavana Patil
Hi Kess, Yes, I do here is the keto version of upma https://www.indianveggiedelight.com/cauliflower-upma-keto-upma/. Unfortunately don't have tamarind rice keto version.
Renu
Wow! upma using milk. Not heard of it, surely I have to try . Thank you for posting this
Bhavana Patil
Hey Renu, Milk enhances the flavor and also makes it soft..Let me know if you give a try.
Anonymous
Hi every time I try, it comes out very well
I added a tip from another recipe.
Add 2 tbsp whisked curd just before switching the flame off.
It gives creamy texture
Sumali
Bhavana Patil
Thank you so much for your feedback Sumali. I will definitely try adding curd and see next time.. Thank you again 🙂
Nilay
I tried it. It's very nice. Thank you Bhavana ma'am.
bhavana
Thank you for trying and letting me know .Glad you liked it Nilay
Reshma
Upma recipe is awesome , upma is delicious for the first time. Thank you Bhavana.???
bhavana
Thank you so much reshma.Glad you liked it!
Reshma
Upma recipe is awesome ,first time he.made upma is delicious. Thank you Bhavana.???
Anonymous
Tried it, very nice. Water measur is 4 cups to 1 cup of sooji, else sooji seemed like raw
bhavana
Thank you.Yeah 1cup sooji to 4cups water also works very well when u want really restaurant style upma.3:1 also works equally good.