Easy Vegan South Indian Rava Upma Recipe

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Cooking With Anadi

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Rava upma can be prepared and served within minutes and it’s hard to get it wrong. This dish is ideal for beginners to Indian cooking! Rava is also known as sooji or suji in Hindi. All of these terms refer to the same ingredient, which is semolina! Did I mention that this dish is vegan? Yep, not leaving the vegans out!

What Are Curry Leaves?

The tree is native to India and there are several culinary and medicinal applications from it’s leaves. Healthline outlines 9 incredible benefits and uses of curry leaves here for your interest.

You can usually purchase these at your local Asian or Indian grocer, and I like to freeze them to use later.

Semolina is usually really easy on the budget, which makes it a popular ingredient in lots of Indian households, and this price to volume ratio translates to North American markets as well.

Preparing a Great South Indian Rava Upma

Roast Well

The rava/sooji/semolina needs to be roasted well to ensure the upma is fluffy and light. The roasting also adds some color since naturally, rava/sooji/semolina is very pale.

Tools Needed

• Nonstick pan
• Wooden spoon
• Plate
• Measuring cups
• Lid

Essential Ingredients for South Indian Rava Upma

These ingredients are key to achieving a great base and understanding the basic concept of a great rava upma.

Olive oil: I like to use olive oil since it is lighter, healthier and is usually always in my pantry.

Black mustard seeds: Essential to most South Indian dishes, the flavor is very similar to subtle spice of mustard which compliments well with curry leaves. Usually mustard seeds are used in combination with curry leaves.

Curry leaves: These leaves are aromatic, and carry a pungent and citrusy flavor which works well with black mustard seeds

Chana dal/Split chickpeas: The lentils are lightly fried with the oil, mustard seeds and curry leaves and adds a nuttiness and texture to the soft, fluffy upma.

Onions: The spicy and nuttiness flavors from earlier are balanced by the sweetness of the onions. Once caramelized with the mustard seeds, they become infused with their flavor and create a unique, delicious flavor combination.

Lime Juice & Cilantro: Cuts through the flavors and helps add acidic freshness to the entire dish. While this step is optional, I urge you to try the upma before and after adding these ingredients to taste the difference.

How to Serve South Indian Rava Upma

A well roasted upma will have fluffy grains that will be steaming hot, which pairs amazingly well with some toast. I especially enjoy it with the subtle sourness of a rye bread. Traditionally, rava/sooji upma is served with coconut chutney or limes on the side and enjoyed by itself. I find the fun in finding your favorite way to enjoy these traditional dishes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Rava Actually Is, and Which Kind to Buy

Rava and semolina are the same thing: coarsely milled durum wheat. If you are shopping in a regular supermarket rather than an Indian grocery, Cream of Wheat is the closest product on the shelf. This recipe uses half a cup of it, and semolina is the main ingredient by a distance. The recipe card offers fine cornmeal as a swap, which gives a similar texture with a slightly different flavour, or 00 flour for a smoother, less gritty result.

In an Indian grocery you will see several names and they are not interchangeable. Bombay rava is the fine white semolina that upma recipes generally mean, and it is the one to buy for this. Bansi rava is coarser and more golden. Rice rava is not wheat at all, it is broken rice, and it makes arisi upma or rice upma, which is a different dish with a different water proportion. Do not confuse any of this with rava kesari either, which takes the same semolina in a completely different direction and comes out sweet. As for the dish itself, upma goes by uppittu in Karnataka, khara bath is the spicier Karnataka cousin, and vegetable upma is the loaded version. Alongside poha, which is made from flattened rice rather than wheat, it is one of the two great quick Indian breakfasts.

Roast the Rava First: This Is the Step That Matters

Before anything else, the semolina goes into a dry pan on medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes, with no oil, until it is lightly roasted and starts giving off a nutty aroma. Then it comes straight out onto a plate to cool. This step does two things and neither is optional. Toasting is where that aroma comes from, and roasted rava holds its grains separate when it meets water instead of slumping, which is the whole difference between a soft upma you can see the grains in and a paste. Spreading it on a plate rather than leaving it heaped in the pan matters too, because a pile of hot semolina carries on cooking itself.

The tempering then goes into the same pan, a kadai if you have one. One teaspoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds and 7 fresh curry leaves. Wait for the mustard seeds to actually start popping before the chana dal goes in, and note the measure: it is 1 tablespoon of chana dal, not a teaspoon of chana dal. Dried curry leaves work at double the quantity with a milder result. Celery seeds stand in for the mustard seeds with a similar pop, or half a teaspoon of ground mustard for the heat without the texture. Then half a cup of finely chopped onion and the green chillies, sauteed on medium heat until the onion softens and the whole pan smells fragrant.

What Is Not in This Upma

This is a deliberately plain upma and the ingredient list is much shorter than most. There is no ghee anywhere in it. The entire fat is a single teaspoon of olive oil, which is a fraction of what a typical recipe uses. There are no peanuts and no cashews, so there is no crunch running through it. There is no urad dal, or black gram, either. The only lentil is 1 tablespoon of chana dal, which is bengal gram, and it is there for a soft bite rather than a crunch.

The spice list is just as short. No teaspoon of cumin seeds, no asafoetida, no ginger and no dry red chilli. The heat is 2 green chillies and nothing else, and jalapeno or a single serrano both swap in. Most importantly, this is not a vegetable upma. There are no carrots, no green peas, no beans and no tomatoes. Half a cup of onion is the only vegetable in the pan. If you want the loaded version, those veggies go in with the onions, but understand that you are making a different dish and will need a little more water for them.

The Water Proportion, and How to Avoid Lumps

One and a quarter cups of water to half a cup of rava, so two and a half to one. That is a generous ratio and it is why this comes out soft rather than stiff. The water goes in after the onions and chillies have softened, and it comes to a full rolling boil before any semolina touches it. Rava goes into boiling water, never water onto rava.

Then the part that decides whether this works. Add the roasted semolina slowly, in a thin stream, stirring continuously the entire time. Lumps come from tipping it in all at once, and a slow stream with constant stirring simply does not produce them. The semolina will puff up and drink the water as you go. Cook it to the texture you want, and if it tightens too much add more hot water a spoonful at a time, because it keeps absorbing after you stop looking. Turn off the heat, put a lid on and leave it 1 to 2 mins to settle. Finish with a generous squeeze of lime juice, or lemon juice if that is what you have, and coriander leaves. The recipe card makes 2 servings at 294 calories each, with 10 g of protein, 55 g of carbs, 4 g of fiber and 312 mg of sodium, and it is mild enough for kids if you leave the chillies out. Traditionally it goes with sambar, a tomato chutney and filter coffee; this version is served with toast. Leftovers stiffen in the fridge, and a splash of water in a hot pan brings them straight back.

Rava Upma Recipe at a Glance, Plus One Expert Tip

The whole rava upma recipe in one place: half a cup rava, which is semolina flour, against 1 and a quarter cups water; 1 teaspoon mustard seeds; 1 tablespoon chana dal; 7 curry leaves; half a cup of onion; 2 green chillies; 1 teaspoon of olive oil, or sunflower oil if that is your everyday cooking oil; and salt to taste. Absent, in one line: no teaspoon cumin seeds, no teaspoon urad dal, no pinch hing, no inch ginger and no vegetables beyond the onion.