Rava Upma Recipe (with Tips to make Soft, Fluffy Upma)

A simple, easy & basic Upma recipe that shares how to make Rava Upma that is soft & fluffy.

Also known as Rulaav (or Rulaanv) in konkani cuisine. It’s a very popular Indian breakfast dish using semolina, that gets ready fairly quickly.

And if you prep it a little a day before, then it can also get ready in under 5 minutes. Refer notes shared after the recipe.

To be honest, growing up, I did not like Upma at all. It was among my least favorite breakfast items. If I absolutely had to eat it, then I endured it by pairing it with a big helping of chips, thin sev, or similar crunchies.

But after marriage, when I got in charge of making the breakfast, I started seeing the other side, and the appeal of a quick & easy-to-make breakfast like Upma. So I reviewed the Rava Upma recipe again, and made one big change, and a few small tweaks to it.

The main change being the amount of water I added to the Upma. I changed the Upma water ratio from 2:1 to 3:1. That is 3 cups of water for 1 cup of semolina. And it made a world of a difference!

It gave me soft and fluffy Upma that I now really enjoy! Instead of the dry and chunky Upma that I did not like at all. And this recipe has also converted many in my friends & family to loving Upma! 😊

So I hope you try it too, and enjoy it as much as we do!

Jump to:

• About this Recipe
• Ingredients for Rava Upma
• How to Make Rava Upma
• Recipe Notes
• Serving Suggestion
• Morning Time Saving Tip
• Reheating Upma
• Tips for Making Good Upma
• More Indian breakfast recipes to try..
• 📖 RECIPE

About this Recipe

This Rava Upma is a simple South Indian style Upma, which is flavored with mustard seeds & curry leaves, and garnished with grated coconut.

In northern parts of the country, Upma is also commonly flavored with nuts, and garnished with coriander leaves.

Then there are other variations like Vegetable Upma & Masala Upma. And I’ll share the recipes for those another time.

This recipe is for a simple South Indian Upma, along with tips on how to make Upma soft & fluffy, by adjusting the rava upma water ratio.

But once you get the method down, you can change up the flavoring to whatever you wish.

Ingredients for Rava Upma

How to Make Rava Upma

• In a pan, add 2-3 tablespoons of ghee, and lightly heat it up. You can also go with coconut oil, if you wish. I prefer ghee.
  
• Then first add 1½ teaspoon of urad dal, and lightly roast it for a few seconds.
  
• Before adding 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds, and roast it for a few seconds, till the mustard seeds start to flutter & pop.
  
• Then add 1 green chilli (slit vertically in two) and 5-6 big curry leaves, and lightly roast them for a few seconds.
  
• After which add 1½ tablespoon of chopped ginger, and lightly roast the ginger for a couple of minutes.
  
• And then add in 1 cup of rava /semolina, mix it in, and roast it on medium to low heat, stirring continuously, till it starts to change color to a dark cream or light golden brown.

• Here ensure to not roast the semolina on high heat as it might get burnt instead of getting roasted evenly.
  
• The roasting time can change based on the size of the granules, and how high the heat is. So it’s best to watch out for the color turning dark cream to golden brown to know when the rava is roasted.
  
• When done, add 1 teaspoon each of salt & sugar to it, and mix them in. Sugar of-course is optional here, but I prefer to add it. It doesn’t make the Upma sweet at all. It just alters the taste a bit, in a good way. You have to try it to taste the difference.
  
• Then lower the flame, or you can even turn it off, and add in 3 cups of hot boiling water, and stir it in.
  
• I usually set the water to boil in a pot as I start the tempering for the Upma. So it is ready when I need it. You can also quickly microwave the water instead.
  
• Lowering the flame while adding water will help reduce splatter from adding hot water to the semolina. As the semolina will start bubbling up once you add the water. Alternatively, you can hold a splatter screen on top, to contain the splatter.
  
• At this point, also add in ¼ cup of grated coconut, and mix it in. I usually add it in right after the water. But as you see in the picture below, in this case, I got to it after the semolina had soaked up most of the water. Which is okay too, doesn’t matter too much.
  
• As the semolina soaks up the water, you can increase the flame back to medium, or start the heat back on, if you had turned it off.
  
• Stir continuously while the semolina soaks up all the excess water. It will only really take a couple of minutes.
  
• And when done, the Upma will start to leave ghee on the sides. Which means it’s done, and you can turn off the heat.

Recipe Notes

1. You can use pre-roasted semolina from the market instead of raw semolina. It will cut down your roasting time to 1-2 mins instead of 5-7 mins. 
   
2. If you don’t want to get pre-roasted semolina from the market, but still cut down the time to make upma, then you can pre-roast the semolina you need at home, and store it in an air-tight container.
   
3. If you prefer your upma on the harder side, you can go with 2 or 2½ cups of water for 1 cup of semolina, instead of the 3:1 ratio that I used here.

Serving Suggestion

I always always make it a point to serve Upma hot. Because Rava Upma, especially, continues to solidify as time passes. And I personally don’t like a harder & drier Upma.

So I prefer to always serve & eat Upma hot, when it is soft & fluffy.

And I love to pair it with a steaming hot cup of tea! But some restaurants also serve it with this coconut chutney, which makes for a delicious combination too!

Morning Time Saving Tip

This simple Rava Upma is a relatively quick breakfast to make. But if you want to save even more of the precious morning time, then you can do all the steps until the roasting of the rava / semolina the night before. And turn off the heat & cover the pot, and keep it out overnight.

Then in the morning all you’ll need to do is add hot water, and grated coconut. And Upma will be ready under 5 minutes!

Reheating Upma

As much as possible I try to avoid leftover Upma, because well like I said, I don’t like a harder & drier Upma. But sometimes it happens.

In which case, I re-heat it one of two ways, to re-hydrate it, and you can go with whatever you prefer.

1. You can microwave it, along with a glass of water on the side, as the steam arising from the water as it heats up, will help re-hydrate the Upma.
   
2. Or if you are re-heating in a kadhai on stovetop, then just add hot water & incorporate it in. In this case you might also have to taste & adjust for salt.

The microwave method doesn’t make it as soft & fluffy as when it is fresh, but it’s a quick way to re-hydrate the Upma to some extent. The stovetop method with hot water is better to get soft Upma. But still there’s nothing quite like fresh Upma.

Tips for Making Good Upma

1. The key to making a good Upma lies in the rava / semolina to water ratio. Using lesser water results in harder & drier Upma, and adding more water gives a soft fluffy texture to the Upma, which is more widely loved.

2. It’s equally important to roast the rava really well. Which is why it’s best to roast it on a medium flame, stirring intermittently, to ensure that it gets an even roast, without getting brown or burnt.

3. You also do not want to under-roast the rava, and wait till it turns a dark cream / light golden color before you add salt & sugar. Because otherwise you will be able to taste the rawness.

5. Upma is best served and eaten warm, because the longer you keep it, the more moisture it loses, and harder & drier it gets.

More Indian breakfast recipes to try..

⭐️ Indian Masala Omelette
⭐️ Kanda Poha Recipe
⭐️ Besan Chilla
⭐️ Egg Bhurji

As always, I hope you found this recipe useful. If you did, please let me know your rating ⭐️ and feedback 📲 in the comments below, or simply rate the recipe right on the recipe card. I’d really appreciate it. ❤️ 

📖 RECIPE

This recipe was first published in Feb 2020, and has been republished with updated instructions, notes & tips, step images as well as video in Aug 2022.

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