Rava Upma Recipe ( How to make Rava Upma )

Hi guys!! Very happy to meet all. I am really sorry about my long break. I just thought of taking a small break during holidays but it got stretched this far. But this doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking and clicking, just the opposite....I tried and tested so many recipes for you during these holidays.  I just can't wait to share all the recipes that I tried :)

Ok now back to our food,
Today's recipe is our age old default breakfast - Rava Upma!

There is always a fine line between a good dish and perfect dish. In this post I am going to share a few tips and tricks that I learnt from my MIL that makes your upma stand out from others. It will be very soft at the same time very fluffy!!!

The main things that yield a perfect fluffy upma are...

• Roasting the rava till nice aroma comes without browning it.
• The amount of water added.
• Allowing the water to come to a boil before adding the rava.
• Cooking the rava by closing it with a lid.
• And the very final and important step is to fluff it with the ladle twice!

Now onto the recipe...

 

Rava Upma

 Soft and Fluffy Rava Upma!
 Prep time: 5 min | Cook time: 10 min
 Total time: 15 min |Yield: 4 to 5 servings

Ingredients:
Rava: 2 cups
Water: 4 cups 
Oil: 1 tsp + 1 tbsp
Mustard: 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal: 1 tsp 
Shallots: 3 (finely chopped)

Curry Leaves: 1 sprig
Red Chilli: 3 
Salt: To taste 

METHOD:

1) Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and roast the rava for 5 minutes in medium high flame.
2)  Keep stirring( don't let it burn! ) till nice aroma comes. As they say in tamil, manal madiri varukanum ( roast till it resembles dry sand ) Transfer to a plate. [ This step is very essential in making the upma fluffy ]
3) In the same kadai, heat 1 tbsp oil and temper with mustard seeds and when it splutters add urad dal. When it turns golden colour, add the onions, red chilli and curry leaves and fry for few seconds till onion turns translucent.
4) Now add water and salt and bring the water to a boil.
5) Bring the kadai to simmer and add the roasted rava with one hand, while stirring continuously with the other hand ( this ensures that no big lumps are formed ) Close with a lid and let it simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
6) Now open the lid. The upma will be like a whole piece of cake. Fluff it with a ladle or a wooden spoon.
 7) Close it again and switch off the stove. Let it standby for another 2 minutes. Then again fluff it with the ladle before serving or placing it in a hot box.

There you have it the soft and fluffiest Rava Upma!!!

Serve it with Sugar and Banana ( my daughters' and SS favorite combo!) or any Chutney of your choice....

NOTES:

1) Roasting the rava is very important as it makes the upma soft by absorbing lot of water and at the same time keeps it fluffy.
2) Don't let the rava brown while roasting it.
3) This is the very basic version of rava upma, you can make many variations to this by dding vegetables or flavour it with tomato...