Upma
The everyday breakfast of southern India, ready in under half an hour. It is semolina dry-roasted, then cooked in water with tadka — spices fried in fat. Two steps decide whether upma is fluffy or gluey. The semolina must be roasted first — then the grains do not clump into paste. And it goes into boiling water in a thin stream, stirring, because dumped in at once it seizes into lumps.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Roasting the semolina 6 min
- Tadka 10 min
- Cooking 8 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneDry roast the semolina
Roast the semolina in a dry pan 5–6 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly, until faintly golden and smelling nutty. Roasted grains do not clump into paste. Tip onto a plate, as it keeps roasting in a hot pan.
Ingredients: 180 g semolina · 550 ml water · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp sugar
Until it smells nutty — roasted grains stay separate.Make the tadka in ghee
Heat the ghee, add the mustard seeds and wait until they pop, then add the urad dal and nuts and fry until the dal turns golden. Add the curry leaves, chilli and ginger for 20 seconds. The urad dal gives crunchy flecks in the soft semolina.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp ghee · 1 tsp black mustard seeds · 1 tsp urad dal · 10 pcs curry leaves · 2 pcs green chillies · 10 g ginger · 1 pcs onion · 30 g cashews or peanuts
Mustard pops, dal turns gold — crunch in the semolina.Soften the onion and vegetables
Add the onion and fry 4 minutes until glassy, then the carrot and peas for 2 minutes. The vegetables should stay slightly crisp — they finish cooking with the semolina.
Ingredients: 60 g peas · 1 pcs carrot · ½ pcs lemon · 3 tbsp coriander
Bring the salted water to a boil
Pour in the water, add the salt and sugar and bring to a rolling boil. Three to one by weight (550 ml water to 180 g semolina) gives soft, fluffy upma. Less water and it is dry as couscous, more and it turns gluey.
Ingredients: 180 g semolina · 550 ml water · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp sugar
Rain in the semolina, stirring
Lower the heat and pour in the roasted semolina in a thin stream with one hand, stirring constantly with the other. Dumped in at once it forms lumps that cannot be broken. It thickens within a minute.
Ingredients: 180 g semolina · 550 ml water · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp sugar
A stream in one hand, stirring with the other — no lumps.Cover and steam
Cover and cook 3 minutes on the lowest heat so the semolina steams through and absorbs all the water. Then fluff with a fork, separating the grains.
Ingredients: 180 g semolina · 550 ml water · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp sugar
Add lemon and coriander
Take off the heat, squeeze over the lemon and stir in the chopped coriander. Lemon and coriander added last keep their freshness — cooked with the semolina they lose their aroma.
Ingredients: 60 g peas · 1 pcs carrot · ½ pcs lemon · 3 tbsp coriander
Shape a mound and serve
Pack upma into a small bowl and turn it out onto a plate as a mound — the South Indian way. Serve hot with coconut chutney or sambar and a cup of masala chai.
Ingredients: 60 g peas · 1 pcs carrot · ½ pcs lemon · 3 tbsp coriander
Before you start
Coarse semolina makes it fluffy
India uses coarse semolina called bombay rava for upma. Fine semolina gives a denser result. If fine is all you have, cut the water by 50 ml and roast it longer.
Rice or millet versions
Upma is also made from broken rice, millet or even oats. The tadka and water ratio are similar. The millet version is gluten free and very popular in the south.
Eat it warm
Upma hardens as it cools. To reheat, sprinkle with a spoon of water, warm covered over low heat and fluff with a fork. Roasted semolina keeps in a jar for weeks.
