Semiya upma recipe | vermicelli upma recipe | vermicelli recipes

Semiya upma is a popular South Indian breakfast made with wheat vermicelli, spices, herbs, and peanuts. Also known as vermicelli upma, it is a beginners recipe and just takes about 25 minutes. A basic semiya upma is made without any vegetables. But to make it a balanced meal, I sometimes add mix vegetables like carrot, peas and beans.

So what is semiya upma? Semiya=vermicelli & upma is a South Indian dish made with semolina and basic tempering ingredients. Semiya upma is just a variation of the basic rava upma. It is made almost the same way with the same set of ingredients.

Upma can be made with rava, vermicelli, poha, sabudana, oats or even with millets.

Making semiya upma is really quick and involves no prior preparation except for slicing the onion & ginger. You can make this with or without veggies as per your convenience.

To make the vegetable semiya, you can use frozen mix veggies like carrots, beans & peas.

This post shows you how to make perfect semiya upma that doesn’t turn sticky or mushy. You can eat this without any sides. But South Indians love this with peanut podi, Idli podi, pickle or curd.

Preparation for semiya upma

1. Skip this step if using roasted semiya. Dry roast 1 cup vermicelli on a medium flame stirring often until light & slightly golden. Transfer this to a plate.

2. Pour 1½ tablespoons oil to a hot pan. Add cashews or peanuts. Fry them until golden and crunchy. Remove and set aside for garnishing.

How to make semiya upma

3. To the same pan, add –

• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon chana dal
• 1 teaspoon urad dal.

4. Fry until the dal turns lightly golden. Add –

• 1 pinch hing
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• ½ teaspoon chopped ginger(optional)
• 1 chopped green chili.

5. Add 1 small sliced onion and saute until transparent. Optional – You can also skip the vegetables. Add ¾ cup mixed vegetables – carrots, peas and french beans. Ensure the veggies are fine chopped otherwise they won’t cook fast. I sprinkle little salt so the veggies release moisture and cook easily.

6. Cover and cook on a low flame till they turn tender and almost cooked. If they don’t cook well, then sprinkle little water and cook.

7. Add salt and pour 1½ cups water. Stir and taste test the water. It has to be slightly salty. If using thin vermicelli 1 ¼ cup water would be sufficient.

8. Bring it to a rolling boil on a high flame.

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

10. Cook on a medium high flame till all the water is absorbed. By then the semiya should be cooked well. (Troubleshooting tip: If the semiya does not cook well then boil little hot water and pour it here. Read tips below.)

11. Cover and cook on a low flame for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off and rest for 5 minutes.

When the temperature comes down a bit, sprinkle lemon juice and add coriander leaves. Mix and garnish with roasted peanuts or cashews. Serve it hot with peanut podi.

This is the semiya upma I made without veggies. It turns out good even without veggies.

Tips to make

1. There are 2 kinds of semiya in the market – roasted & unroasted. If using preroasted vermicelli, you don’t need to roast them again. Otherwise you have to roast them following my step 1 otherwise the dish will turn mushy and sticky.

2. The quantity of water to use differs for thick and thin variety vermicelli. I use the thicker bambino semiya which takes 1½ cups water for every cup of semiya. If using thin semiya then it would only need 1¼ cups.

3. Semiya upma is always made with wheat vermicelli and not with rice vermicelli. If using rice vermicelli, then boil them following the instructions on the pack. Drain them and then just do the tempering without adding water. Then just mix the precooked vermicelli there. Cover and cook for 1 to 2 mins.

More breakfast recipes
Soft Idli
Crispy Dosa
Masala dosa
Puffed Poori

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