Upma Recipe (Rava Upma)

A bowl of upma can be a great addition to your breakfast table, with spicy flavors of green chilies, curry leaves, crackling mustard seeds, semolina, ginger, and other such delectable components.

This dish is not only delicious, healthy & wholesome, but it keeps you feeling full and energized throughout the day. Simple, and alluring!

What is Upma?

Rava Upma is also known as uppumavu or uppittu. This breakfast recipe 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 ones. 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.

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.
• Oil: Use any cooking oil.
• Mustard seeds, cumin, urad dal & chana dal: added for tempering.
• Cashews: added for crunch and taste. It's optional.
• Green chilies: I have used 2 Thai green chilies.
• Curry leaves: added to enhance the flavor.
• Ginger: use minced or grated ginger.
• Hing (Asafoetida): used for flavoring. You can also use gluten-free asafoetida.
• Onion: I have used finely chopped onions.
• Milk: adding milk enhances the flavor of the upma, however, you can skip and replace it with water.
• Lemon juice: freshly squeezed lemon juice tastes the best.
• Garnish: use freshly chopped coriander leaves.

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

• Upma Varieties: You can make many variations of upma, like Bread Upma, Vermicelli Upma, Poha, Sabudana 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.

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