Rava (Suji) Upma

I am not sure about other cultures, but this is very true in Tamil Nadu! What is the eeriest, telltale sign that you have stepped into some relative or a friend’s house as an uninvited guest?

It is not that “Oh, you know what? I was not even greeted at the door and invited properly into their house!”. I am telling you, this is a pardonable and an excusable sin. What is worse is that after a brief chat you sit down to have some food at their place and you notice the dreaded rava upma is being served on your plate! And that too it just happens that it was very badly cooked (maybe purposefully?) with lumps and also is over salted.

It is true that this notorious rava upma has become a butt of a joke, like the weapon of choice for daughter-in-laws to poison their mother-in-laws, or being used as a foolproof solution of last retort by the engineers to glue broken plane wings!

To be honest, I am not a big fan of this rava upma. My favorites are the rice upma (my preferred choice) or the cracked wheat upma. But what to do, time is premium these days, and because this upma can be cooked in a jiffy, I make it especially when I am short of time or if I am very exhausted. I also need to admit, sometimes I also crave for this upma and make and enjoy it with spicy coconut chutney.

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Rava Upma

A very easy to make great tasting rava upma where the roasted onions and loaded dal tadka makes it a blissful experience, when cooked right!

Course Breakfast, Tiffin

Cuisine Indian

Keyword Rava, Rava Upma, Sooji, Suji, Upma

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 4 people

Author Senthil Sadasivam

Ingredients

• 2 cups Rava (suji or sooji) roasted
• 3 cups water
• salt to taste

For tadka

• 1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds
• 2 tbsp Chana dal
• 1 tbsp Urad dal
• 1 Red chili broken
• 2 sprigs Curry leaves
• 1 tsp Hing
• 1 cup Onion sliced
• 2 Green chilies sliced
• 1/2 inch Ginger chopped
• 3 tbsp Oil

Instructions

1. Dry roast rava in a pan until it browns a bit and gives out a nice aroma.

2. Tadka: In a pan, add 3 tbsp oil, and in medium heat, add the mustard seeds and when it splutters, add 1 broken chili, 2 tbsp chana dal and when it browns slightly, add 1 tbsp urad dal and roast it till it browns slightly, then add curry leaves and hing powder, followed by sliced onion and green chilies and fry till the onion gets slightly browned. Add ginger and fry for some more time. Tadka is the most important step when making upma and pay attention to avoid blackening of the tadka dals.

3. Add 3 cups water for the 2 cups rava (rava : water ratio – 1 : 1.5), salt to taste and bring it to a boil. You can use 2 times water if you want your upma to be soft.

4. Add roasted rava and mix well (and fast) so that lumps do not form and cover and cook in medium heat for 5 mins.

5. Open lid, mix ingredients (break lumps if there are any), cover and cook for another 3 mins in medium heat.

6. Serve with coconut chutney, or any pickle of your choice.