This tomato upma will delight those who are bored with their regular upma. Despite its spicy and tangy taste, the tomato sauce is delicious. In this recipe, I have not used any other vegetables. The best vegetables for this recipe are carrots, peas, and green beans (French beans).
There is nothing better than a hearty South Indian breakfast made with semolina, spices, curry leaves, and ripe tomatoes! In South India, Rava Upma is a staple food. This tomato upma is a variation on it. There is no need for anything else on the side when it comes to tomato upma. It tastes delicious on its own. On the side, pickles & papads, peanut podi, curry leaves podi, or curry leaves podi are great choices.
It is made in a similar manner to regular upma. We roast the semolina on a low heat, until aromatic and crunchy. This step prevents the tomato upma from turning sticky and prevents formation of lumps when you incorporate the rava into the boiling water.
How to Make Tomato Upma
Roast rava
1. A kadai or pan should be filled with ½ cups of rava. Roast on a medium flame until crunchy & slightly aromatic, making sure not to brown it. While roasting the rava, slice onions and chop tomatoes and green chilies. Set the rava aside preferably to a bowl for easy pouring.
2. Heat 1 to 1 ½ tablespoon oil or ghee. Ghee imparts a great aroma to your tomato upma. Add ½ mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon chana dal, 1 teaspoon urad dal and 10 split cashews all at one time. Fry until the dal turn golden.
3. Add 1 sprig curry leaves, 1 to 2 green chilies and 1 small chopped or sliced onion. Saute until the onions turn slightly pink. This takes about 1 to 2 mins.
4. Next add ¾ cup tomatoes, 1/8 teaspoon turmeric and ¼ teaspoon salt. Saute for 1 to 2 mins.
5. Make sure the potatoes are covered and cooked until they are soft and mushy. The flavor of tomatoes will be enhanced by sautéing them on a high flame for a few minutes. Tomatoes are also removed from their raw flavor when this step is done. It’s not worth skipping.
Make Tomato Upma
6. Add 1 ¼ cup water, stir and check the salt. The water must be slightly salty. Bring it to a rolling boil.
7. Reduce the flame to medium. Slowly pour rava in a stream to the boiling water. While you pour stir the water to incorporate the rava into the water. This also prevent lumps of rava.
8. Quickly stir once to make sure no lumps have formed.
9. Cover and cook until the moisture is absorbed. Stir well. Switch off and add coriander leaves. Cover and leave aside for 5 mins.
Ghee-grease a bowl and add the upma. Make sure the spoon is pressed down evenly. After inverting it, shake it gently off. Cashews and coriander leaves should be adorned with tomato upma. Serve hot or warm.
