Semolina cooked with onion, mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chilli and tomato — the most eaten breakfast across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra upma is distinctly different from other versions — drier and more spiced.
Ingredients
1 cup semolina (rava — use the fine or coarse variety, both work)
2 tbsp oil or ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal (raw)
10 curry leaves
2 dried red chilli
1 onion — finely chopped
3 green chilli — finely chopped
1 tsp ginger paste
2 tomatoes — finely chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 cups water
salt to taste
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
1 tsp lemon juice
Method
Dry roast the semolina: Place 1 cup semolina in a wide dry pan on medium-low heat. Roast stirring continuously for 3 to 4 minutes until the semolina turns slightly golden and smells nutty. Remove immediately into a bowl and keep aside. Roasting the semolina is what separates well-made upma from a gluey, sticky version — roasted semolina absorbs water without clumping.
Boil the water: In a separate pot or kettle, boil 2 cups water. Keep it hot and ready. The water must be boiling or very hot when added to the pan — adding cold water to hot semolina causes it to clump.
Heat oil and temper: Heat 2 tbsp oil or ghee in a wide heavy pan on medium. Add mustard seeds — wait for them to pop. Add raw urad dal — stir for 30 seconds until it turns golden. Add curry leaves (they will crackle) and dried red chilli. Stir 10 seconds.
Cook onion and green chilli: Add finely chopped onion and green chilli. Cook on medium heat stirring every 2 minutes for 5 minutes until the onion turns translucent and slightly soft.
Add ginger and tomatoes: Add ginger paste — stir 30 seconds. Add chopped tomatoes. Cook stirring for 3 minutes until the tomatoes soften slightly. The tomatoes should not be fully cooked down — they should retain some shape and acidity.
Add turmeric and salt: Add turmeric and salt. Stir briefly.
Add the boiling water: Carefully pour the boiling hot water into the pan with the cooked onion-tomato mixture. Stand back slightly as it will spit and steam. Stir immediately. The water will boil vigorously.
Add the roasted semolina: Once the water is boiling, add the dry roasted semolina gradually — pour it in a slow stream while stirring continuously with the other hand. If you add all the semolina at once, large lumps will form. Keep stirring as you add.
Cook until all water is absorbed: Stir continuously on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes as the semolina absorbs the water. The upma will first look very wet then thicken rapidly. When all the water is absorbed and the upma pulls away from the sides of the pan as you stir, it is done. The texture should be slightly grainy and distinct — not smooth paste.
Finish and serve: Add lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves. Stir gently once. Serve immediately in bowls — upma should be eaten hot. In Telangana it is eaten with coconut chutney or with a small amount of sugar sprinkled on top.
Note: Uppudu Pindi (upma) is the most widely eaten breakfast across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh — found on every hotel breakfast menu and in every home kitchen. The Andhra version uses more green chilli than other regional versions and includes tomato which most North Indian versions do not. Roasting the semolina is the one step that separates good upma from mediocre upma.