Upma is an easy & nutritious south Indian breakfast made by cooking dry-roasted semolina(suji)in water along with tempered spices. It is simple and can be made very quickly. Generally, only onions & green chili are added to make upma but you can enhance the taste by adding veggies and nuts such as peas, carrot, beans, tomatoes, split black gram (urad dal) & peanuts. This will also make upma high in fiber & healthier.
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Stepwise recipe to make upma:
- Dry roast 1 cup semolina(rava/suji) in a pan while stirring continuously. Roast till suji is fragrant. Stir for around 5 to 6 minutes ensuring that suji doesn’t get burned in the bottom. Transfer roasted suji in another bowl. To make quick upma, you can also roast rava in advance and store it in an airtight container. This will avoid contact with moisture and rava will stay fresh for 3 – 4 weeks.
- In a pan, add 2 tablespoon oil/ghee. Now add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds.
- When mustard seeds crackle, add curry leaves & 1 chopped green chili.
- Now add 7-8 cashews & ¼ cup peanuts. Saute till they slightly change color. However adding cashews & peanuts is optional.
- Now medium-sized chopped onion, ¼ cup peas & ½ cup chopped carrot. Here I have used fresh peas. They were quite tender so I have used them directly. If you are using frozen peas then soak them in warm water for 15 minutes before using them.
- Cook till onions and peas become soft.
- In another deep bottomed vessel, heat 3 cups of water on a medium flame till it starts boiling.
- Now add 1 cup of roasted semolina in the pan.
- Stir gently till it gets mixed with veggies.
- Add boiling water (prepared in step 7).
- Add salt and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Mix everything well. Cover with a lid and let upma steam for 2-3 minutes on a low flame.
- Switch off the flame and garnish the upma with chopped coriander. Serve hot.

Here is complete stepwise photo guide on how to make upma
- 1 cup semolina rava/suji
- ¼ cup peas mutter
- ½ cup carrot chopped
- 1 medium-sized onion chopped
- 1 green chili chopped
- ½ cup coriander chopped
- 7-8 curry leaves
- 7- 8 cashews optional
- ¼ cup peanuts optional
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon oil/ghee
- Salt as per taste
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Dry roast 1 cup semolina(rava/suji) in a pan while stirring continuously. Roast till suji is fragrant. Stir for around 5 to 6 minutes ensuring that suji doesn’t get burned in the bottom. Transfer roasted suji in another bowl.
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In a pan, add 2 tablespoon oil/ghee. Now add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds.
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When mustard seeds crackle, add curry leaves & 1 chopped green chili.
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Now add 7-8 cashews & ¼ cup peanuts. Saute till they slightly change color. However, adding cashews & peanuts is optional.
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Now medium-sized chopped onion, ¼ cup peas & ½ cup chopped carrot. Here I have used fresh peas. They were quite tender so I have used them directly. If you are using frozen peas then soak them in warm water for 15 minutes before using them. Cook till onions and peas become soft.
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In another deep bottomed vessel, heat 3 cups of water on a medium flame till it starts boiling.
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Now add 1 cup of roasted semolina in the pan.
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Stir gently till it gets mixed with veggies.
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Add boiling water (prepared in step 6).
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Add salt and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Mix everything well. Cover with a lid and let upma steam for 2-3 minutes on a low flame.
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Switch off the flame and garnish the upma with chopped coriander. Serve hot.