Rava is roasted and then made to almost like a thick porridge and seasoned mildly with mustard seeds, curry leaves and chillies.
Heat a tablespoon of ghee in a Kadai | Pan. Roast the rava / broken wheat / semiya until it becomes aromatic and slightly starts changing colour; about 3 minutes on medium high flame. Transfer it to a bowl and keep it aside.
Now, add the oil into the same pan and once it becomes hot, add the mustard seeds and as it splutters, add the green chillies, curry leaves and ginger; give a quick stir.
Then add the onions and fry until it turns translucent, about 2 minutes.
Then add the tomatoes, fry them for another 30 seconds.
Now add the finely chopped veggies of your choice, stir them for a minute.
Add the required amount of hot water (See the ingredients list) and salt. If you are adding room temperature water, make sure to bring it to a full boil before adding the grains.
Turn the heat down and then add the rava gradually. Keep on stirring while adding the rava to avoid forming lumps. Be careful as it might splatter.
Keep stirring until the rava, semiya or gothumai rava absorbs the water completely. Careful it might bubble and splatter around you.
Then, lower the flame, cover and cook until the rava becomes soft for about 4 to 5 minutes.
Turn off the flame and keep it covered for another couple of minutes.
Then fluff it up with a spatula, garnish it with coriander leaves and cashews.
Serve rava upma with coconut chutney. Some relish this with sugar or indian type pickles.
Serve gothumai rava ( broken wheat upma) with onion raita. Mostly it can had without any side dish.
Serve semiya upma with coconut chutney. Some relish this with sugar or indian type pickles.
Rava Upma:
Gothumai Rava Upma:
Semiya Upma:
For Quinoa : Rinse the quinoa grains first and then add it in step 4. It will need about 2 to 2.5 cups water and simmer it for about 10 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.
For Couscous : In step 4, add about 1.5 to 2 cups water; simmer and cover for about 8 - 10 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.
For Bulgur wheat : Add 1.5 cups hot water to bulgur wheat and let it rest for 15 minutes. Add this after step 3 (no additional water is needed). Keep it on the medium flame for about 3-4 minutes, so that it absorbs the salt and other flavours. Turn off and serve.
Upma recipe - Rava (Semolina), Gothumai rava (Broken wheat), Semiya (Vermicelli) https://themagicsaucepan.com/breakfast/upma-pongal-kichdi/upma-recipe-rava-gothumai-rava-semiya-upma