Upma recipe/ Rava (suji) upma recipe

Who doesn't like to have healthy breakfast? Let’s make a famous south Indian breakfast, Rava Upma. Rava is also called as suji in Hindi and cream of wheat or semolina in English.

Upma an extremely common yet lovable breakfast items all over India. One easily gets upma in all the restaurants as breakfast. In fact, upma would be a regular brerakfast in my growing up days. Upma is not only delicious but also a healthy breakfast option. You can make it healthier by adding a lot of boiled veggies like carrot, beans, tomatoes and peas.

It is a quick preparation using common ingredients, and so it can be made without much ado. It hardly takes 15-20 minutes, if you have roasted semolina ready. I always roast semolina/rava/suji and then keep in an air tight container. This way the semolina stays good for a longer time and doesnot become mouldy or spoilt. Also the time spent is less when you make upma or rava sheera or suji halwa.

I just love the steaming hot upma served with some hot cup of coffee or chai; comfort breakfast on any cold winter mornings. This version of upma is how I make it at home and adapted from my mom’s recipe.

Upma is usually served with lime slices or lime pickle with coconut chutney. It can also be had plain.

Step by step Rava Upma recipe:

Prep up the ingredients for upma- Finely chop 1 medium sized onion, 1 to 2 green chilies, grate ½ inch ginger. Chop some coriander leaves. Take few curry leaves, 8-10 cashew nuts, 1 tsp chana dal and 1 tsp urad dal.

Heat a pan or kadhai first, add 1 cup rava or semolina.

Roast the rava by stirring it often on low heat. The rava or suji grains should become fragrant and look dry. Don’t brown the rava. Switch off the flame and place the roasted rava in a plate and keep aside.

In a pan, heat 2 tbsp. Ghee or Oil. I have used ghee (clarified butter). Add 1 tsp mustard seeds and let it crackle.

Then add ½ tsp cumin seeds. Add 1 tsp chana dal and 1 tsp urad dal.

Immediately add cashew nuts and begin to fry. By the time, the cashew get golden, the dals would also get golden.

Add the finely chopped onions, dry red chili and chopped green chili. Saute the onions till the time they become translucent.

Then add  and ginger and curry leaves. Saute for a minute.

Then add 2.5 cups water to this mixture. [Make sure there is extra hot water available, if necessary. Some variety of semolina requires more water.]

 

Add salt as required. Then add sugar. Sugar is optional and you can skip it. If you prefer slightly sweet taste in the upma, you can add it.

Stir well. On medium to high heat, boil the water.When the water come to a rolling boil, lower the heat, then add the rava slowly, in 4-5 batches.

Once you add the rava. Stir immediately. The rava grains absorb water and thus swell and get cooked. If the upma looks too dry, add remaining ½ cup of water or as required.

Cover and allow the rava upma to steam for 2 minutes on low flame. Once the rava is cooked and upma is ready, switch off the flame.

Lastly add chopped coriander leaves. Stir well.

Serve upma hot with slice of lemon. 

I sprinkle some sev on upma while serving. Though, it is not the traditional way of serving upma. But we like this north Indian style. You can serve upma with coconut chutney or lime pickle.

Below is the printable version of this recipe. 

Rava upma recipe below:

Rava upma recipe Prep time Cook time Total 15 min  15 min 30  min Upma- South Indian breakfast made with semolina. AUTHOR: Monali RECIPE TYPE: Breakfast CUISINE: Indian SERVES: 2-3 INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup=237 ml) 1 cup Semolina/Suji/Rava 1 medium sized onion, chopped finely 1 green chili, chopped ½ inch ginger 2 tbsp. Ghee/Oil 1 tsp mustard seeds/rai ½ tsp cumin seeds/jeera 1 tsp Chana dal/split & skinned Bengal gram 1 tsp Urad dal/split & skinned Black gram, grated 1 sprig of curry leaves/kadi patta 10-12 cashew nuts/kaju 2.5 to 3 cups of water Salt as required 1 tsp sugar (optional) 2 tbsp. chopped coriander/cilantro leaves DIRECTION Heat a pan or kadhai first, add 1 cup rava or semolina. Roast the rava by stirring it often on low heat. The rava or suji grains should become fragrant and look dry. Don’t brown the rava. Switch off the flame and place the roasted rava in a plate and keep aside. In a pan, heat 2 tbsp. Ghee or Oil. Add mustard seeds and let it crackle. Then add cumin seeds. Add chana dal and urad dal. Immediately add cashew nuts and begin to fry. By the time, the cashew get golden, the dals would also get golden. Add the finely chopped onions. Saute the onions till the time they become translucent. Then add chopped green chili and ginger and curry leaves. Saute for a minute. Then add 2.5 cups water to this mixture. Add salt as required. Make sure there is extra hot water available, if necessary. Some variety of semolina requires more water.  Then add sugar. Sugar is optional and you can skip it. If you prefer slightly sweet taste in the upma, you can add it. Stir well. On medium to high heat, let the water come to a rolling boil. Now lower the heat, then add the rava slowly, in 4-5 batches. Once you add the rava. Stir immediately. Then add the next batch of rava. Stir again. This way, keep on adding and stirring the rava up to the last batch. Quickly stir and mix well. The rava grains absorb water and thus swell and get cooked. If the upma looks too dry, add remaining ½ cup of water or as required. Cover and allow the rava upma to steam for 2 minutes on low flame. Once the rava is cooked and upma is ready, switch off the flame. Lastly add chopped coriander leaves. Stir well.  SERVING SUGGESTION Serve upma with lime slices or lime pickle. It can also be served with coconut chutney.