Vegetable Upma with hot filter coffee is one our favorite South Indian breakfast. Healthy tasty and super quick you can make a delicious, hot comforting and breakfast or tiffin in 20 minutes with this upma recipe.
One of the most favourite breakfast in south Indian homes, upma and steaming hot filter coffee is one of our favorite too. In this vegetable upma recipe, semolina or sooji is cooked with vegetables and spices. A delicious tempering of chillies mustard and hing gives it a most amazing flavour and you are ready to dig in a hot comforting and soul satisfying healthy breakfast.
Sounds good? Lets make it then 🙂 But before that let me share with you few more South Indian breakfast recipes you can try if you love this veggie Rava upma recipe. For those who want extra info about upma, upma is also known as Uppittu or Uppamavu in Karnataka.
Which Sooji/Rava to Use for making upma
For making upma, fine sooji or rava known as upma rava is best. You can make it with a thicker variety of semolina as well, but the texture will be different.
Variations of Upma Recipe
Upma, as a dish has many variations. You can make so many upma variations using different ingredients. I make quite a few of them.
You can make:
- Bread Upma
- Vermicelli/Semiya Upma
- Oats Upma
- Quinoa Upma
- Tomato Upma
Calories In Upma and Is it Healthy?
Regarding Vegetable Upma being healthy or not, or it is all carbohydrates argument, I have always had this philosophy, any food can be as much healthy or unhealthy as you want it.
Most of the times healthy or unhealthy depending upon the way you cook it, and the ingredients you add to it. Last but not least, how you eat it, and How much you eat. To make it healthy, I try and add a lot of vegetables in upma. Cashew also adds a rich taste and crunch.
How to Cook Veg Upma
Rava upma is a simple and easy recipe that is cooked with semolina-rava, vegetables, and a few spices. I pre-boil vegetables. You can cook them directly in the pan because these are quick to cook.
Herbs and seasonings used in Upma tempering give it an enticing aroma and texture that makes it best breakfast ever. Breakfast that you can eat every day and still love it. In short, THE BEST BREAKFAST EVER.
Like me, if you also like to prep for your breakfast a night before, you can make my Instant Breakfast Mix in advance. With this mix, you can make upma with that in 10 minutes. The same mix can be used in making Instant Rava Vada and Instant Sooji Idli.
If you don't want to make the instant mix you can roast the semolina ahead of time and then keep it in an air-tight container. This little trick helps me to cook upma/idli and other sooji recipes whenever I want.
Step by step Recipe Instruction Photos
Heat a teaspoon of ghee in a pan, and add cashew and peanuts in it. Roast them well, and then keep them aside.
In the same pan add mustard seeds and allow it to crackle. After that add a pinch of asafoetida, chana dal, and urad dal. Mix them well.
Now, add chopped green chilies and a sprig of curry leaves in the pan.
Then add carrots and peas in the pan. Cook them for a minute.
Then add finely chopped onions and saute the vegetables for 2 -3 minutes.
Add semolina or rava and mix it with the ingredients. Mix all the ingredients well and pour water in the pan.
Keep stirring the pan for even cooking. Stir and mix for few minutes and then cover and cook ‘til the water is well absorbed.
Take off the lid and squeeze half a lemon on the rava.
Now, add salt to taste and then mix it well. Cover and cook for another 2 minutes and then turn off the heat and keep the upma aside.
For the tempering, pour oil in a tadka pan and add mustard seeds, broken red chilies and a sprig of curry leaves. Mix it with a spoon and after adding peanuts in the upma, add the tadka.
After adding the tadka, mix the upma well and serve hot. Also, don't forget to add cashews before serving the upma.
Upma Recipe Step by Step Video
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Different types of sooji take a different amount of time and water, the water may take some time to absorb.
- If you like to eat it soft upma, then add exactly 3 cups of water to 1 cup of rava. This will give perfect softness preventing it to get dry.
- Also, to make the perfect upma, always use the same measuring cup to measure the water that you are using to measure rava.
- You can skip cashew or peanuts if you wish to. But these add a lot of taste in this recipe
Other Semolina Breakfast Recipes you can Try
-
Semolina fingers
-
Semolina Pancakes
-
Potato and semolina squares
-
Khatta Dhokla
How to Serve upma
When it comes to enjoying the recipe, if you like it simple then you can just sprinkle some drops of lemon juice and enjoy the upma with a cup of tea or coffee. You can even serve it with some or coconut chutney. I love it with zesty coconut egg curry.
Traditionally, upma recipe in Kerala is served with ripe banana/ ethapazham and filter coffee.
Originally published in August 2019, I have made update in information, recipe remains same.
📖 Recipe
Rava Upma Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 cup Semolina rava /sooji
- 1 Onion medium size finely chopped
- 1 Carrot chopped
- 3 tablespoon Green peas
- 2 Green chilies chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ginger grated optional
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- pinch of Asafoetida
- Curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon Urad dal split husked black lentil
- 9-11 Cashew nuts
- 10-11 Peanuts
- 1 teaspoon chana dal Split chickpeas
- Salt to taste
- 3 cups Water
- Lemon juice
- Coriander leaves chopped
- For Tempering
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 3-4 Red Chilies Whole
- Curry Leaves
Instructions
ROAST SOOJI/SEMOLINA
- Heat a pan and add a cup of rava or semolina in it. Now, keep the heat medium-to-low and roast the rava. Keep stirring the rava in between to avoid over-roast. Roast it until it has an earthy smell and looks dry and crisp.
- When the rava is well roasted, switch off the heat and keep it aside. * {if you are using roasted semolina You Can start from step below}.
- In the same pan, add a teaspoon of ghee. Now, add cashew and peanuts in it. Allow them to roast for a few seconds and then take them out on a plate.
- In the same pan add a pinch of Hing in it. Add mustard seeds and allow it to crackle. After that add chopped green chilies, grated ginger and chopped onions.
- Allow the onions to be golden brown and then add urad dal, chana dal, and a sprig of curry leaves in the pan.
- Cook them for a minute * {if you are using my Instant mix recipe as I mentioned in the post You Can start from step below}.
- Now add boiled peas, carrots. Cook the vegetables for a minute or two and add rava in it.
- Mix all the ingredients well and pour water in the pan.
- Keep stirring the pan for even cooking. Stir and mix for few minutes and add salt to taste.
- Cover and cook ‘til the water is well absorbed.
- When done, sprinkle a few drops of lemon juice and mix well.
- In a separate tadka pan, add a teaspoon of oil, mustard seeds, broken red chilies and a sprig of curry leaves. Quickly pour the tempering over the upma.
- Pour the tadka for that aromatic flavor and serve hot.
Video
Notes
- Different types of sooji/semolina take a different amount of time and water, the water may take some time to absorb.
- If you like to eat it soft upma, then add exactly 3 cups of water to 1 cup of rava. This will give perfect softness preventing it to get dry.
- Also, to make the perfect upma, always use the same measuring cup to measure the water that you are using to measure rava.
Emma
Excellent!
Ashwini
Lovely!
Its a Quick recipe:
RAVA UPMA
Sukanya
Where is ginger in instruction?