Rava Uttapam (Sooji Uttapam)
By Swasthi on August 27, 2022, Comments, Jump to Recipe
These delicious Rava Uttapam make for a great Indian breakfast & can be made under 30 mins. Unlike the traditional Uttapam, these instant uttapam do not require a fermented batter. So that saves a lot of time and effort. Rava uttapam can be eaten plain or with a spicy chutney & Podi. You can also get fancy and add some grated cheese to make them cheesy.

Apart from this rava uttapam, breakfast foods like this Rava Dosa, Wheat Dosa, Oats Uttapam & Besan Chilla come handy when you don’t have much time to prepare in advance.
For the uninitiated, Rava Uttapam are Indian savory pancakes made with semolina (rava), spices, yogurt, veggies & herbs. Traditionally, lentils and rice are soaked and then ground to a batter which is later fermented until airy.
This batter is poured to a hot pan and topped with onions, chilies, coriander leaves and cumin seeds. The fermented batter cooks up to fluffy thick pancakes which are cooked in ghee or oil.
Making these rava uttapam is much easier than the traditional version because this recipe helps you by-pass the lengthy steps of soaking, grinding and fermenting. Instead we make a simple batter by mixing all the ingredients.
This recipe uses yogurt (homemade curd) to impart a slight tangy flavor & it also helps to rise the uttapams a bit when you cook the batter. I have not used baking soda or eno at all as I did not feel the need.
Do check out the tips and notes section below, after the stepwise photos.
More Indian Breakfast Recipes
Moong Dal Chilla
Poha Recipe
Bread upma
Upma Recipe
Tomato Upma

How to make Rava Uttapam (Stepwise Photos)
Preparation
1. Add half cup semolina (fine rava / suji) to a mixing bowl.

2. Add half cup water.

3. Mix it well. Set this aside for 20 mins.

4. Meanwhile chop the veggies like onions, green chilies, tomatoes, bell pepper. You can also use grated carrot & coriander leaves.

5. Add 4 tbsp yogurt (¼ cup).

6. Next add salt as needed.

7. Mix well. The batter should be neither thin or too thick, but must be of spreading consistency. Check the consistency first and then add 1 to 2 tbsp more water if required.

8. This is the consistency required. Set this aside.

Make Sooji Uttapam
9. Grease or season your tawa well with few drops of oil. Rub with a sliced onion or kitchen tissue. I season my cast iron pan after every wash and wipe off the excess oil before storing it. I heat it and grease it again before use.

10. When the pan turns hot, pour half of the prepared batter.

11. Spread it gently only a little.

12. Immediately add cut veggies.

13. Press down with a wooden spatula. If you do not do this, veggies will come off the uttapam when you flip it.

14. Pour oil or ghee and cook on a medium heat.

15. After a while you will see the edges loosen from the pan, gently lift it with a spatula and flip it.

16. Cook on both the sides till fully done. If you want you can also cook longer to brown your veggies & the uttapam both. If you want you can also add cheese or Idli podi at this stage.

Serve these instant rava uttapam just with a cup of masala chai or a Chutney, podi, or Pickle.

Ingredients
- This recipe requires homemade yogurt. If you want to use Greek yogurt, cut down to 2 to 3 tablespoons. If it is too sour you may also stir in a bit of milk.
- Rava is nothing but semolina. For this recipe you will use the fine rava also known as Bombay rava, suji, sooji. It is the same kind we use to make halwa & sheera. This recipe also works with chiroti rava (extra fine suji) which is used to make chiroti.
- I have used just onions and bell peppers here as I was running short of veggies. Chopped tomatoes, grated carrots, lots of coriander leaves go well on this rava uttapam.
- Sometimes I also add dill leaves. If you like the flavor you can just add about a tbsp of the fine chopped leaves.
Pro Tips
- Ensure the pan is hot enough before you pour the batter. The batter will get stuck to the pan if it is not hot enough.
- The batter should to be of pouring consistency yet thick. If it is too runny, it will get stuck and not get cooked well.
- The recipe can be easily doubled or tripled.
Recipe Card

Rava Uttapam (Sooji Uttapam)
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- ½ cup semolina (fine rava or suji or sooji)
- ½ to ¾ cup water (½ + 1 to 2 tbsp)
- ¼ cup curd (4 tablespoons Indian yogurt)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 tablespoons carrot grated (optional)
- 1 small tomato chopped (optional)
- 2 tablespoons capsicum chopped (optional)
- 1 to 2 green chilies chopped
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves finely chopped
- 2 to 3 teaspoons oil or butter
Instructions
Preparation
- Soak semolina in half cup water. Set this aside for 20 mins.
- Meanwhile chop the veggies and season the pan or tawa with oil. Wipe off excess with a kitchen tissue.
- Stir in the yogurt and salt to the soaked rava. The consistency should be neither too thick not too runny. You need a medium consistency.
- If the batter is too thick you may splash a bit of water – 1 to 2 tablespoons & stir. (Check pics in the post to know the consistency)
How to make Rava Uttapam
- Heat the pan on a medium high flame. Drizzle a few drops of oil on the pan and smear with a kitchen tissue carefully.
- When the pan is hot, pour half of the batter and spread a bit gently.
- Sprinkle the veggies and press with a spatula.
- Add oil or ghee around the edges and cook on a medium heat until you see the edges loosen from the pan.
- Flip the uttapam carefully with a spatula.
- Cook until the veggies are partially done or brown to your liking. Flip back and cook until the rava uttapam turns lightly crisp.
- If you want you can also sprinkle some Podi or cheese. Serve rava uttapam hot or warm with chutney or masala tea.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Rava uttapam recipe originally published in Aug, 2016. Republished in June 2019.

About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
Thank you so much,Mam
I tried first time all my family members admired this recipe.Thank you once again.
Glad you all like it Rajni. Thank you
looks delicious. will try for sure
Thank you so much Usha. Hope you enjoy it.
I couldn’t believe these rava uttapam & idli podi tasted so good, both your recipes. Thank you.
Thanks for trying Manjula. Glad you like them.
I have tried so many of your recipes and i love them all they all tirn out so good
Keep it up
Thank you so much Harman
So glad you love the recipes!
🙂
Hey Swasthi, really nice recipes to follow! I love how you also explain the reason behind each step and how to deal with potential hiccups. I had a small question about cast iron tawa. I want to buy one but hesitant as I have never used it before. Which brand are you using here? Does your uttapam not stick? Does it work on induction? Can you use the silicone mit while cooking for 20-30 mins on induction?
Hi Yashi,
Thank you! Currently I am not using a cast iron tawa. I am using teflon titanium pan. In the past I have used lodge cast iron a lot but no more because every time after I comeback from a 4 to 6 weeks holiday, the pans don’t work well any longer. They have to be scrubbed off and seasoned again with no guarantee to work the same way. I have replaced 2 cast iron pans after every trip so I have given up. Lodge cast iron pans work on induction and you can use silicon mit (all I have is from Le creuset). Hope this helps.
All your recipes are easy to make and tasty too👍
Thanks sarika
Excellent recipe- very quick to make, tasty, whole family loved it. On a few of them I threw some pieces of cheddar cheese and that was very good too. simple recipe and so easy to follow.
Glad to know Roshan
I tried this recipe and it turned out so tasty. I always follow your recipes. They are the best. You give so in depth recipe that it cannot go wrong. Please keep posting such yummy recipes. Thank you so much for helping us by sharing your recipes.
Hi Shweta
You are welcome! Glad to know! Thanks for leaving a comment.
Thanks dear it was really nice to understand the step by step preparation of rava uttapum The pictures were of great help Thanks
Welcome Sudha
Can I use coarse suji instead of fine? Coarse is the only one I have . Thank you
Pulse it in a grinder and use. Coarse semolina will break them
Very easy and delicious recipe. My kid and husband loved it. Recently, I started making your recipes, every time it’s turning out well and getting appreciation from my husband which is usually hard ?. I love making different dishes, and your recipes became part of my daily cooking. Perfect and healthy recipe. My hearty thanks. Keep going… Rock well…. Thanks a lot for this lovely recipes!!!
Hi Ganeshwari
You are most welcome! Happy to hear that!
Thank you so much!
🙂
Amazing results. Thank you for sharing
Welcome!
I tried your recipe 1st time.. Suji uthappam was sooo tasty.. and so easy to make .. I am going to try more recipes.. thanks..?
Welcome Dhana
glad the recipe worked out. Thanks for leaving a comment
The dish is really great.
Also , can you tell how to make vegetable pakoras from wheat flour
Like- mirchi pakora , onion pakora etc with wheat flour
I have this wheat flour bonda recipe. I don’t have the recipe for wheat flour pakoras.
Very useful recipe. Thanks
Super simple and extremely tasty! Thank you for this recipe! Perfect quantity for 2, but I liked it so much that I ended up wishing I had made more! :p
Hi! Tried it and it really came out well 🙂
Thank you
Can we use roasted rawa?
I haven’t tried it with roasted rava. But it should work
Hi Swasthi, thank you for a wonderful recipe. It was very simple to make, perfect measurements. In fact I was a bit scared because I don’t have a non stick tawa, just the normal one still it came out quite nice. Had to keep an eye on them since it was my regular tawa…but still came out really nice. Everyone enjoyed at home.
Hi Nidhi,
You are welcome! Glad to know they came out good. Thank you.
Hi, I tried this recipe but i was not able to flip it as a whole. It was sticking to the pan alot and breaking easily on flipping.
Hi Richa,
Not sure where you went wrong. May be the batter had to soak a little longer.Soaking usually helps and avoids breaking. Sticking to the pan – may be rubbing an onion slice helps.
Hello ma’am
Is there any alternative for curd?Can I use vinegar instead of curd?
Hi Ananya
You can use 3/4 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar with a large pinch of soda