tomato upma recipe with step by step photos – tangy, spicy and tasty upma recipe with full on flavors from tomatoes and spices.
upma and poha are two breakfast dishes i make regularly as they are quick to prepare with easily available ingredients.
amongst the upma varieties, tomato upma is my favorite. the reason being i like a lot of recipes made with tomatoes. the tang from the tomatoes perks up the overall flavor in any recipe. so is the case with this upma. its tangy and well as spicy.
what i am sharing here is a slightly spicy version. at times i even add bisi bele bath masala powder or vangi bath powder in this tomato upma. really you should try it this way as well. the taste is damn good. in the recipe mentioned here, i have only added red chili powder. for a less spicy version, skip the red chilli powder.
like a regular upma, tomato upma is best served hot drizzled with a bit of ghee on top. you can also serve it with a side of lemon pickle or lemon wedges. coconut chutney also goes very well with tomato upma.
for more delicious upma varieties on blog which you may like are:
tomato upma recipe
INGREDIENTS FOR tomato upma recipe
- 1 cup fine sooji (rawa or rava or cream of wheat)
- 2 tablespoon ghee or oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 teaspoon urad dal (husked split black gram)
- 1 teaspoon chana dal (husked split bengal gram)
- 1 or 2 dry red chilies (sukhi lal mirch) - broken and deseeded
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
- 50 grams onion (pyaaz) or 1 medium onion, chopped or ⅓ cup chopped onions
- 150 grams tomatoes (tamatar) or 2 medium to large tomatoes or ¾ cup chopped tomatoes
- 1 or 2 green chilies (hari mirch) - chopped
- ½ inch ginger (adrak) - chopped or 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- 6 to 7 curry leaves (kadi patta) - chopped
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi powder)
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon red chilli powder (lal mirch powder) - can also add vangi bath powder or bisi bele bath powder
- 2.5 cups water
- salt as required
- 1 to 2 teaspoon ghee for drizzling on top - optional
HOW TO MAKE tomato upma recipe
roasting rava
- heat a pan or kadai first. add 1 cup rava or cream of wheat.
- on a low flame, begin to roast the rava. stir often while roasting the rava.
- the rava or sooji grains should become fragrant and start to look dry, separate and crisp. don't brown the rava.
- switch off the flame and then add the roasted rava in a plate and keep aside.
making tomato upma
- in a pan, heat 2 tbsp ghee or oil. add 1 tsp mustard seeds.
- when you hear the crackling sound of mustard seeds, it means they are getting cooked.
- when the mustard seeds are crackling, then reduce the flame to a low and add 1 tsp cumin seeds along with 1 tsp chana dal and 1 tsp urad dal.
- stir and saute them on a low flame till the both the urad dal and chana dal become golden. take care not to burn the dals.
- now add 1 or 2 dry red chilies and a pinch of asafoetida. stir well.
- add 1/3 cup chopped onions.
- stir and begin to saute the onions on a low to medium flame till they turn translucent.
- then add the chopped green chilly, ginger, curry leaves. saute for half a minute.
- add 3/4 cup chopped tomatoes,1/4 tsp turmeric powder and 1/4 to 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. you can also add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp vangi bath powder or bise bele bath powder instead of red chilli powder.
- mix very well and saute the tomatoes on a low to medium flame till the tomatoes soften.
- next add 2.5 cups water to this mixture.
- add salt as per taste. check the taste of water and it should be slightly salty.
- on a medium to high flame, heat the water and let it come to a rolling boil.
- when the water comes to a rolling boil, lower the flame to its lowest. then add the rava in 4 to 5 batches directly from the plate or with a spoon.
- as soon as you add the first batch, immediately stir and mix very well.
- then add the next batch of rava.
- stir again. this way keep on adding and stirring the rava up to the last batch.
- quickly stir and mix well so that lumps are not formed. the rava grains absorb water and thus swell and get cooked.
- cover and allow the tomato upma to steam for 2 to 3 minutes on the low flame. then switch off the flame.
- lastly add about 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves. stir well.
- drizzle 1/2 tsp of ghee on each serving and serve tomato upma hot with coconut chutney or lemon pickle or lemon wedges.
roasting rava for tomato upma recipe
1. heat a pan or kadai first. add 1 cup rava or cream of wheat.
2. on a low flame, begin to roast the rava. stir often while roasting the rava.
3. the rava or sooji grains should become fragrant and start to look dry, separate and crisp. don’t brown the rava. this roasting takes around 3 to 4 minutes. the time will vary depending on the thickness & quality of pan and flame intensity.
4. switch off the flame and then add the roasted rava in a plate and keep aside.
making tomato upma
5. in a pan, heat 2 tbsp ghee or oil.
6. add 1 tsp mustard seeds. when you hear the crackling sound of mustard seeds, it means they are getting cooked.
7. when the mustard seeds are crackling, then reduce the flame to a low and add 1 tsp cumin seeds along with 1 tsp chana dal and 1 tsp urad dal.
8. stir and saute them on a low flame.
9. saute till both the urad dal and chana dal become golden. take care not to burn the dals.
10. now add 1 or 2 dry red chilies and a pinch of asafoetida. stir well.
11. add ⅓ cup chopped onions.
12. stir and begin to saute the onions on a low to medium flame.
13. saute the onions till they turn translucent.
14. then add 1 or 2 green chilies (chopped), ½ inch ginger (chopped) and 6 to 7 curry leaves (chopped). saute for half a minute.
15. add ¾ cup chopped tomatoes.
16. stir well.
17. add ¼ tsp turmeric powder and ¼ to ½ tsp red chilli powder. you can also add ¼ to ½ tsp vangi bath powder or bisi bele bath powder instead of red chilli powder.
18. mix very well and saute the tomatoes on a low to medium flame.
19. saute till the tomatoes soften.
20. next add 2.5 cups water to this mixture.
21. add salt as per taste. check the taste of water and it should be slightly salty.
22. on a medium to high flame, heat the water and let it come to a rolling boil.
23. when the water comes to a rolling boil, lower the flame to its lowest. then add the rava in 4 to 5 batches directly from the plate or with a spoon.
24. as soon as you add the first batch, immediately stir and mix very well.
25. then add the next batch of rava.
26. stir again. this way keep on adding and stirring the rava up to the last batch.
27. the rava grains absorb water and thus swell and get cooked. quickly stir them, so that lumps are not formed. cover and allow the tomato upma to steam for 2 to 3 minutes on low flame.
28. then switch off the flame. here the rava is cooked and the tomato upma is ready.
29. lastly add about 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves. mix again.
31. drizzle ½ tsp of ghee on each serving and serve tomato upma hot with coconut chutney or lemon pickle or lemon wedges. if you are looking for more tomato recipes then you can check this collection of 26 tomato recipes.
Finally found the tomato upma just like the one in hotel vasantha vihar . Thankyou!
nice to know and thanks for sharing.
Hi Dassana,
Thank you for changing the face of veg cooking! You have created a big difference with easy access to simple recepies. It is easy for people like me who have recently developed interest in cooking. This tomota upma recipe is fantastic. Just one suggestion, we can add 1 tsp oil in the boiling water. This prevents the upma from sticking to the pan.
Regards and thanks!
Kalyani
Welcome Kalyani. Glad to know that this blog is helping you in cooking. Thanks for sharing this tip and for your appreciation.