Oats Upma
- 10 min prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- Serves 2
- 370 kcal
- 10 g protein
Rava upma's quicker cousin. Toasted oats, a crackling South Indian tadka and a fistful of vegetables, on the table in 25 minutes with nothing clumping.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (90 g) quick oats
- 1½ tbsp (22 ml) oil, plus ½ tsp for toasting the oats
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp (5 g) urad dal
- 1 tsp (5 g) chana dal
- 8 cashews (10 g)
- 1 small onion (70 g), finely chopped
- 1 tsp (5 g) ginger, finely chopped
- 1–2 green chillies (5 g), slit or chopped
- 10–12 curry leaves
- ¼ cup (35 g) carrot, finely diced
- ¼ cup (30 g) French beans, finely chopped
- ¼ cup (35 g) green peas, fresh or frozen
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- Salt, to taste (about ½ tsp)
- 1 cup (240 ml) hot water
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
Method
- 1Set a wide kadai on low heat with ½ tsp oil. Tip in the oats and keep them moving for 3–4 minutes until they smell toasty and feel dry and crisp. Do not let them colour. Move them to a plate.
- 2Pour the remaining oil into the same kadai over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and wait for them to pop, then add cumin, urad dal, chana dal and cashews. Stir until the dals turn light gold.
- 3Add the onion and cook for 2–3 minutes until soft and see-through. Stir in the ginger, green chillies and curry leaves for 30 seconds.
- 4Add the carrot, beans and peas with the turmeric and salt. Sauté for a minute, then pour in the hot water, cover and simmer on medium for 4–5 minutes until the carrot is just tender.
- 5Lower the heat. Sprinkle the toasted oats over the simmering vegetables while stirring, so every flake meets liquid. Keep folding for a minute until the water is mostly absorbed.
- 6Cover and leave on the lowest heat for 2–3 minutes. The upma is ready when it holds loose, separate clumps and no water pools at the bottom.
- 7Switch off the heat, squeeze in the lemon juice, scatter the coriander and fluff with a fork. Serve hot.
Notes from the Department
- Toasting is not optional. Raw oats go gluey; toasted oats stay as separate, fluffy flakes.
- Using rolled oats? Toast them a minute longer and use 1¼ cups (300 ml) water, then steam covered for 5 minutes.
- Add the oats to the pan, never the water to the oats. Pouring liquid over oats is how lumps are born.
- No-onion-garlic version: skip the onion and add 2 tbsp grated cabbage for sweetness.
Nutrition per serving
- Energy
- 370 kcal
- Protein
- 10 g
- Carbohydrate
- 46 g
- Fat
- 17 g
- Fibre
- 8.9 g
- Sugars
- 5.2 g
Why this works
Upma depends on grains that swell without collapsing. Semolina does it naturally. Oats need help, and the help is a short dry toast. It sets the outer layer of each flake, so it drinks the water slowly and holds its shape. The second trick is the ratio: roughly one part quick oats to one part water. Any more and you have porridge with a tadka on top. Any less and the upma tastes dusty.
The tadka does the heavy lifting on flavour. Mustard seeds, urad and chana dal give crunch and a nutty base, curry leaves bring the smell everyone recognises from a darshini, and cashews are the small luxury. Lemon at the end lifts it all. The Department of Breakfast considers the lemon mandatory.
Swaps
Rolled oats work and give a chewier bite; see the tips for water. Peanuts can replace cashews. Any quick-cooking vegetable fits: capsicum, sweet corn, finely chopped cabbage or a handful of spinach stirred in at the end. For a South Indian breakfast that is gluten-free, use oats sold as certified gluten-free, since regular oats are often processed alongside wheat. Skip hing for the same reason, as most hing is cut with wheat flour.
Serving and storage
Serve with coconut chutney, a spoon of peanut chutney or simply a bowl of plain curd if you are not keeping it vegan. A cup of filter coffee alongside is traditional.
Oats upma is best eaten within an hour. Leftovers keep in the fridge for a day in a closed box. To reheat, sprinkle 1–2 tbsp water over it, cover and warm on low heat for 3 minutes, then fluff again. It does not freeze well; the vegetables turn watery.
Questions people ask
- Can I use rolled oats instead of quick oats for upma?
- Yes. Rolled oats give a chewier, more defined upma. Toast them for 5 minutes, increase the water to about 1¼ cups (300 ml) and steam covered on low heat for 5 minutes before fluffing.
- Why does my oats upma turn mushy?
- Usually too much water or untoasted oats. Stick close to equal volumes of quick oats and water, toast the oats until crisp, and add them to the simmering pan rather than pouring water over them.
- Can I make oats upma without onion and garlic?
- This recipe has no garlic to begin with. Leave out the onion, add a little grated cabbage or extra carrot for sweetness, and keep everything else the same.
- Is oats upma gluten-free?
- It can be. The recipe uses no semolina or hing. Buy oats labelled certified gluten-free, because regular oats are commonly processed in the same facilities as wheat.
Inspired by Dassana's Veg Recipes. Method, notes and photograph by the Ministry of Oats.
More from the Department
- Drinks · South Indian · 11 min
Ragi Oats Malt
Karnataka's ragi java, thickened with powdered oats and finished with jaggery, cardamom and warm milk. A glass of breakfast in ten minutes.
- Breakfast · South Indian · 50 min
Oats Uttapam
Thick, soft-centred uttapams from a 20-minute oats, rava and besan batter, crowned with onion, tomato and capsicum that caramelise against the hot tawa.
- Breakfast · South Indian · 30 min
Oats Pongal
Ven pongal with oats standing in for rice: soft moong dal, creamy oats and a ghee tadka loud with black pepper, cumin and cashews. Comfort in about 30 minutes.
- Breakfast · South Indian · 275 min
Oats Pesarattu
Andhra's green moong dosa with oats ground into the batter. Bright green, gingery and crisp, with a scatter of onion on top. Soak in the morning, eat by breakfast.
- Breakfast · South Indian · 50 min
Oats Paniyaram
Crisp-shelled, soft-centred kuzhi paniyaram from an instant oats and curd batter. No leftover dosa batter needed, just a paniyaram pan and 20 minutes at the stove.
- Snacks · South Indian · 65 min
Oats Murukku
Rice flour, roasted oat flour and pottukadalai, pressed into spirals and fried till they crackle. A Diwali tin staple, with an air-fryer route too.