The Rava Upma or Uppittu is considered very easy and quick to make breakfast or dinner. When rushed in time and have minimal ingredients to work with, these recipes come to the rescue.
Rava Upma is the not-so-popular breakfast/dinner item. The best part is I am the only one who is not a big fan of Semolina UPma and none of the others in my house mind it.
When I mentioned that I am going to make a very simple dish for the alphabet U, they were actually excited to eat it as it has been a while since I made this simple Uppittu.
Whenever given a chance, I would be making Semiya / Vermicelli Upma or Arisi Upma. Recently, I made Rava / semolina kichadi and it was delicious. So, I went ahead with my decision to make the simple Rava Upma, and glad I made it.
My boys loved it with coconut chutney and this was the first time, they ate it completely with chutney without asking for sugar or ketchup on the side. You heard it right, who eats Upma with ketchup? If you are looking for more Upma inspiration, check them out here - Upma Recipes.
The Rava Upma is considered a very easy and quick-to-make breakfast or dinner. When rushed in time and have minimal ingredients to work with, these recipes come to the rescue. I added a little bit of frozen carrot and peas as I dislike serving any dish without vegetables in it.
The beauty of this Semolina Upma dish is in the texture and color. A few things to keep in mind, when making the Upma, is to not fry the semolina too much that it changes color.
This is the reason, I do not buy roasted semolina from the stores. Those are always over-roasted and too dark for my preference. The Uppittu that my mother makes always is frosty white.
The other thing that would change the color of the Upma is over-caramelizing the onions. Make sure that you saute the onions only until they are translucent. The Upma would taste great just with onions, but I added a little bit of carrots and peas.
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Preparation time - 5 minutes
Cooking time - 20 minutes
Difficulty level - Easy
Ingredients to make Uppittu - (serves 4)
- Rava / Semolina - 1 ½ cups
- Water - 2 ½ cups to 3 cups
- Onion - 1 large (thinly sliced)
- Carrot - ¼ cup
- Green peas - ¼ cup
- Oil/ghee - 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
- Kadalai paruppu / chana dal - 2 tsp
- Green chilies - 5 to 6
- Ginger - ½ inch piece (grated)
- Curry leaves - few
- Asafetida - ¼ tsp
- Coconut - ½ cup (grated)
- Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
- Salt - to taste
Procedure to make Rava Upma -
- In a wide pan, dry roast the rava / semolina until it is aromatic and just begins to change the color. Do not let it become brown. It just needs to slightly begin to change color. It takes about 5 to 7 minutes in low to medium flame.
- Remove the roasted rava on a plate and in the same pan, heat the oil or ghee. I use a combination of both.
- Add the mustard seeds and chana dal and let it fry for a few seconds. Add the asafetida, curry leaves, onions, and green chilies and fry until the onions are translucent. Do not let the onions change color as it will alter the color of the Uppittu / Upma.
- Now add the carrots and the peas and let it cook until they soften.
- Add the water and the coconut gratings along with salt and let the water come to a boil.
- Slowly add the roasted semolina to the boiling water and keep stirring with the other hand. The rava would clump up if not stirred, so constantly stir the mixture.
- The mixture will thicken very quickly after we add the rava. Keep the heat low and cover the pan for a couple of minutes to allow the rava to cook. If needed, sprinkle a little water to make sure that the semolina cooks well.
- Turn off the flame and add the lemon juice. Mix again and serve hot with coconut chutney!
Other Breakfast Ideas
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Recipe
Uppittu | Rava Upma | Semolina Upma
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup Rava / Semolina
- 2 ½ cup Water
- 1 Onion large thinly sliced
- ¼ cup Carrot
- ¼ cup Green peas
- 2 tablespoon Oil / ghee
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoon Kadalai paruppu / chana dal
- 5 Green chilies
- ½ inch Ginger grated
- few Curry leaves few
- ¼ teaspoon Asafetida
- ½ cup Coconut grated
- 2 tablespoon Lemon juice
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- In a wide pan, dry roast the rava / semolina until it is aromatic and just begins to change the color. Do not let it become brown. It just needs to slightly begin to change color. It takes about 5 to 7 minutes in low to medium flame.
- Remove the roasted rava on a plate and in the same pan, heat the oil or ghee. I use a combination of both.
- Add the mustard seeds and chana dal and let it fry for few seconds. Add the asafetida, curry leaves, onions and green chilies and fry until the onions are translucent. Do not let the onions change color as it will alter the color of the Uppittu / Upma.
- Now add the carrots and the peas and let it cook until they soften.
- Add the water and the coconut gratings along with salt and let the water come to a boil.
- Slowly add the roasted semolina to the boiling water and keep stirring with the other hand. The rava would clump up if not stirred, so constantly stir the mixture.
- The mixture will thicken very quickly after we add the rava. Keep the heat in low and cover the pan for couple of minutes to allow the rava to cook. If needed, sprinkle a little water to make sure that the semolina cooks well.
- Turn off the flame and add the lemon juice. Mix again and serve hot with coconut chutney!
Priya Srinivasan says
upma, the saviour dish at many households, i too dont like plain upma, want it to be lil colorful with veggies! upma looks perfectly done!!!
Padmajha PJ says
Nice tips to make a super white Upma and a nice choice for the alphabet as well! I am not a fan of upma but started eating it as it is hubbys favorite and I am too lazy to make another dish just for me. The platter with the upma and coconut chutney looks absolutely delicious.
Manjula Bharath says
Even I am not a upma fan but I would never mind to have it once in while .. Uppitu looks so delicious sandhya 🙂 The perfect consistency makes it so tempting !!
Srivalli says
Funny to know you are the only one not to like it while the boys enjoyed it..your Upma surely looks so white and inviting!
sapana says
I hated upma when I was a kid but now I love it and can have it every other day but family hates it and they don't want me to make it ever. Love this texture and beautiful white color of it.
Mayuri Patel says
I'm a huge fan of upma..I love it. However, in mine I add sour yogurt to give a balanced flavor to the overall dish. Your family must have been happy when you made their favorite.
Pavani says
Same pinch Sandhya, even I am not a big fan of upma. But I wouldn't mind if someone makes it for me and serve it with coconut chutney 🙂
Gayathri Kumar says
Even I like my rava upma with carrots and beans. And I am the only person who enjoys upma at my place. You are making me hungry with that delicious plate of upma..
Vaishali Sabnani says
Thank you Sandhya for those tips..seriously I needed them. I love the way this upma has turned out..frosty white as you would call it. The orange and green veggies lend it a beautiful color, the texture is amazing and it is a perfect breakfast that I would love to eat.
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan says
Glad you made this for your family. This is such a lifesaver recipe. 🙂
Sharmila Kingsly says
This is one classic breakfast ,weekly once i definitely make this !! Love it with some extra ghee and coconut chutney!!
Priya Suresh says
Even i dont buy roasted rava from stores. And this upma is always my favourite, love my upma with loads of vegetables as well. Never get bored of this dish.
Sandhiya ThirumalaiKumar says
Simple yet delicious upma. It turned out so good, Sandhya. Love the addition of veggies in it. Even i'm not big fan of upma, but i can have them now and then !!!
harini says
Love the humble upma. I avoid onions in upma but the rest is the same procedure.