Simple, practical, and full of everyday flavour, Spinach Upma|Palak Upma is a vegetarian Indian breakfast made with sooji/semolina/rava, spinach (palak), and tomato in about 20 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sooji/semolina/rava
  • 1.5 cups spinach (palak)
  • 1 large tomato ((about 1 cup))
  • 3 green chillies
  • 2 tablespoon oil
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds(jeera)
  • 1 teaspoon urad dal
  • few cashews ((optional))
  • 1 stalk curry leaves
  • 1 teaspoon ginger (minced)
  • 2.5 cups water
  • salt (to taste)
  • juice of half lemon
  • 2 tablespoon cilantro (coriander leaves)

Method

  1. In a Blender add chopped spinach(palak),tomato,green chillies and blend to a smooth paste without adding any water.
  2. Start by roasting the sooji until it’s fragrant on medium low flame in a pan. Do not burn or brown the sooji from bottom so be careful.Remove it into a clean dry bowl or plate.Note: You can do this step of roasting sooji in advance and save time for busy mornings.
  3. Add oil in a heavy bottom pan, add mustard seeds, jeera(cumin) seeds,urad dal,cashew nuts and saute for 1 minute until they start changing color.Next add chopped ginger and curry leaves. Saute another 20 secs.
  4. Add spinach tomato puree to this pan and cook for 2-3 minutes.It slightly changes its color.
  5. Later add the water, salt and let it come to a boil.Once it starts boiling, start adding the roasted sooji at a time.Stir sooji continuously after each addition in one direction with a spatula to avoid lumps.
  6. Then cover the pan with lid and set heat to low. Let it remain like that for 2-3 mins still all moisture is absorbed.Turn off the heat.
  7. Remove lid,add lemon juice, coriander leaves and 2 tablespoon of ghee.Ghee is optional but recommended.Mix well.
  8. Serve the spinach upma hot with coconut chutney,pickle,sambar.

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.