Upma: Listen, upma is not some fancy dish you Instagram with gold leaf. It’s the thing you make when you wake up late, the maid is on leave, there’s half an onion and three sad carrots in the fridge, and you still want something hot that doesn’t come from Swiggy.
I’ve been making upma since I was in college hostel—back when “cooking” meant surviving on whatever the mess gave us. The first few times? Disaster. Lumpy, raw-tasting, or like wet sand. My roommate used to say it looked like wet cement. But after burning my tongue and ego enough times, I figured it out. Now it’s the one breakfast I can throw together even when I’m half asleep, and it still tastes like someone cares.
Credit by: AI Generated Img
What I usually throw in (for 3 hungry people or me + leftovers for lunch):
- 1 regular steel tumbler full of rava (the coarse one, not the superfine baby-powder kind)
- 2–3 big spoons of oil or desi ghee (ghee if I’m feeling nice to myself)
- A small fist of mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, and whatever nuts are lying around (cashew pieces or peanuts—both work)
- 1 onion, chopped small (sometimes I skip it if I’m making no-onion version for puja days)
- 2 green chillies (slit, not chopped—easier to pick out if someone’s sensitive)
- A thumb-size piece of ginger, grated on the smallest side of the grater
- 10–12 curry patta (never measure, just tear off a sprig)
- Whatever veggies I find: usually 1 carrot diced tiny, handful of peas, sometimes French beans or capsicum if they’re not gone bad
- Water: roughly 2.5 to 3 times the rava (I eyeball it now)
- Salt, pinch of haldi if I want colour, pinch of sugar if the chillies are angry
- Coriander to finish, and always lemon to squeeze at the table
Credit by: AI Generated Img
How I do it these days (no chef voice, just what actually happens):
Put the kadai on medium flame, dump the rava in dry. Keep stirring with a flat spoon like your life depends on it. 5 minutes later it starts smelling nice and toasty—golden, not brown. Take it out immediately onto a steel plate. If you leave it in the hot kadai it overcooks and turns bitter. Learned that the hard way.
Same kadai, pour oil/ghee. Mustard seeds first—wait for the dance. Then dals and nuts. Let them go light golden. Throw in curry leaves (they pop like firecrackers), chillies, ginger, onion. Fry till onion is soft and sweet-smelling, not brown.
Add veggies, stir 2 minutes. If using haldi, now’s the time.
Boil water separately in the kettle (saves time and prevents lumps). Pour the hot water straight into the kadai, add salt + sugar. Let it bubble like crazy.
Now flame low. Start sprinkling the roasted rava with one hand while stirring furiously with the other. No dumping the whole thing—slow and steady wins. It thickens fast. If it looks too thick too soon, splash more hot water from the side.
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Cover, lowest flame, 5–6 minutes. Open once, give a gentle mix. Done when it leaves the sides a bit and smells cooked.
Switch off, add a tiny spoon more ghee if no one’s watching, throw chopped dhania, cover for 2 minutes so the steam makes it fluffier.
Serve with lemon squeezed on top. I like it plain or with a dollop of mango pickle. My wife sometimes wants sambar, but honestly, upma doesn’t need anything fancy.
Things that still go wrong if I’m careless:
- Forgot to roast rava properly → tastes like uncooked sooji porridge
- Added rava to cold water → instant glue
- Too much water → khichdi vibes
- Too little fat → dry and crumbly like sand
Credit by: AI Generated Img
Read More Recipes: Poha – The Dish That Always Saves My Lazy Mornings (and Evenings)
Quick changes I do:
- Tomato upma when tomatoes are cheap and red
- Only peas + lots of black pepper when I want it super light
- Oats instead of rava once a week when the weighing scale is judging me
Upma is not about impressing anyone. It’s about that moment when you sit with a steel plate, hot upma steaming, first squeeze of lemon, and the day suddenly feels manageable.
You make upma too? Tell me your secret—do you add sugar? Extra ghee? Or are you one of those monsters who puts ketchup on it? 😆 Drop it below, I’m collecting ideas.
