Semiya upma recipe | vermicelli upma recipe | vermicelli recipes

Semiya upma or vermicelli upma recipe – Popular south Indian breakfast made with vermicelli. UPMA is one of the regular breakfast that is made in most South Indian homes. It can be made of rava, vermicelli, poha, sabudana, oats or millets. Semiya upma is eaten alone or with peanut podi, pickle or curd.

To make this semiya upma, I have used bambino unroasted semiya. Any variety of semiya can be used for this recipe. If you are using roasted semiya, refer the notes. The quantity of water to use differs for thick and thin variety vermicelli (details included below).

Iam sharing 2 methods of making semiya upma recipe – with and without using vegetables. Vegetable semiya can also be eaten for lunch or dinner when you are short of time. It is nutritious and filling too. You can find the one with vegetables towards the second half of this post.

You can find more breakfast recipes here
Poori recipe
Medu vada
Poha recipe
Oats upma
Soft idli
Crispy dosa
Masala dosa

You may also like these vermicelli recipes
Semiya payasam
Vermicelli pulao or biryani
Semiya kesari

Semiya upma recipe

Method 1 – step by step photos on quick semiya upma recipe

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard, cumin, urad dal, chana dal and peanuts. When the peanuts get roasted well and turn golden, sprinkle hing. I have not used ginger, if you like it add it now.

2. Add thinly sliced onions, green chili and curry leaves. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Add unroasted semiya.

4. On a low to medium flame, roast them well until lightly golden. If vermicelli is not roasted well, upma turns sticky. Do not burn. Keep stirring.

5. While the vermicelli gets roasted, heat 1 ¾ cups water in a separate pot. Add salt and taste it. It should be slightly salty. Bring this to a boil. You can do it on the stove or in a microwave.
6. Pour the hot water to the vermicelli and then stir immediately to prevent lumps.

7. Cook on a medium high flame without covering till the entire moisture is absorbed. Stir occasionally.

8. Cover the pan and Switch off the stove. Leave it aside for 3 to 4 minutes.

9. Lastly, I like to add lemon juice, grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves to the vermicelli upma. This is optional. Allow semiya upma to cool down a bit and then fluff up.

Serve semiya upma with pickle or podi.

Method 2 – vegetable semiya upma recipe with step by step photos

This method of making vermicelli upma though takes 5 to 7 minutes more to prepare than the first method.  This is healthy one since veggies are included and can be packed for the lunch box.

1. Dry roast 1 cup vermicelli on a medium flame until they turn slightly golden. Transfer this to a plate.

2. Pour oil to a hot pan. Add half tsp cumin, half tsp mustard, half tbsp each of chana and urad dal. Fry until the dal turns lightly golden. Dals can be skipped.

3. Add curry leaves and green chili as desired.

4. Next add 3/4 to 1 cup finely chopped vegetables and then saute for 2 to 3 minutes. I use carrots, onion, beans and green peas.

5. Cover and cook on a low flame till they turn tender and almost cooked.

6. Add salt and stir.

7. Pour 1 ¾ cups water. Next stir and taste the water. It has to be slightly salty. Bring it to a rolling boil on a high flame. If using thin vermicelli 1 ¼ cup water would be sufficient.

8. Add the roasted vermicelli. Stir well to prevent lumps.

9. Cook on a medium high flame till all the water is absorbed.

10. Switch off the stove and then cover the pan with a lid. Allow to rest for 3 to 4 minutes.

Semiya upma is ready. Lastly fluff up with a fork and serve. If desired you can add little lemon juice.