Semiya upma is a delicious upma variant made with vermicelli, aromatics, spices, cashews and herbs. This easy vermicelli recipe is also called as vermicelli upma and has unique flavors and textures.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Breakfast, Snacks
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup broken semiya, seviyan or whole wheat vermicelli (or 185 grams semiya, you can also use rice vermicelli)
  • 2 tablespoons oil (or ghee (clarified butter))
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon urad dal ((husked and split black gram))
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 medium sized onion, (finely chopped or ⅓ cup finely chopped onions)
  • ½ teaspoon finely chopped ginger (or ½ inch ginger, finely chopped)
  • 1 green chili (- chopped)
  • 1 dry red chili (- whole or broken and seeds removed - optional)
  • 7 to 8 curry leaves
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing) - optional)
  • 2 cups water (or add as required)
  • ½ teaspoon sugar ((optional) or add as required)
  • salt as required
  • 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves ((cilantro))
  • few lemon wedges (while serving seviyan upma)

Method

Roasting semiya

  1. Firstly heat a heavy kadai or pan. Keep the flame to a low. Take the semiya strands and break them. Add the semiya strands in the kadai.
  2. On a low flame begin to roast the semiya. Stir often when roasting vermicelli.
  3. Roast till the semiya strands become golden. Some strands won’t become golden but its fine as they will be roasted and cooked.
  4. Remove the roasted semiya in a separate bowl or plate. Keep aside.

Making semiya upma

  1. Heat oil or ghee in a pan. You can use any neutral flavored oil.
  2. Add the mustard seeds and let them begin to crackle.
  3. Then add urad dal and cumin seeds. Fry them till they get browned.
  4. When the urad dal begins to become light golden, then add cashews.
  5. Mix well and fry till the urad dal turns golden.
  6. Then add chopped onions. Next add curry leaves, ginger, green chill, red chili and asafoetida.
  7. Mix very well and sauté till the onions become translucent
  8. Now add water, salt and sugar and let the mixture come to a rolling boil.

Cooking vermicelli upma

  1. Lower the heat and add the roasted vermicelli.
  2. Stir and cook the vermicelli till they become soft and all the water is absorbed.
  3. Keep on stirring in between.
  4. When the vermicelli is cooked completely and all the water is absorbed, switch off the heat and add chopped coriander leaves.
  5. Serve the semiya upma garnished with a few coriander leaves along with some lemon or lime wedges.
  6. This savory dish also tastes good as is without any sides.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.