Learn to make Vermicelli Upma, a popular Indian breakfast. It is an easy, tasty, and satisfying vegetarian dish. Be sure to watch the video!
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
- What is ‘vermicelli’?
- About Semiya Upma
- Meal-Prep Tips For Upma
- Watch Semiya Upma Video
- Serving Suggestion
- Vermicelli Upma Recipe
What is ‘vermicelli’?
Vermicelli is a thin, long thread-style noodle or pasta. In the Indian sub-continent, it is known as ‘semiyan’, ‘seviyan’, or ‘semiya’. It is commonly used to make sweets, kheer , and snacks like spring rolls or stir fry noodles.
These vermicelli noodles are often made with various flours like all-purpose flour, wheat, ragi, or semolina . The Indian variety of vermicelli noodles is approximately one inch long, or you can say they are bite-size, unlike the Southeast Asian style vermicelli noodles.
About Semiya Upma
Semiya Upma is an Indian breakfast made with vermicelli noodles, vegetables, and spices. It perfectly qualifies all the criteria of a quick and easy Indian breakfast .
I am sharing a South Indian-style, wholesome, and tasty upma recipe.
With each season, the ingredients of my vermicelli upma also keep changing. During the winter, it is loaded with bright and shiny vegetables – green peas , carrots, and beans . We like to keep it simple with onion and potatoes during hot summer days.
My favourite is lemon semiya upma with only peanuts, cashews, a lot of lemon juice, and fresh coriander. Plain and refreshing!
More Reasons to LOVE Semiya Upma
- possible vegan and gluten-free
- easy to pack for lunchbox
- packed with vegetables
- highly customizable
- meal-prep friendly
Meal-Prep Tips For Upma
These two meal prep tips always work for me:
- You can clean, chop, mix, and store all the vegetables for the upma in an airtight container at the beginning of the week or a day before.
- Usually, I boil the vermicelli noodles the previous night or the day before. Toss boiled noodles gently in a teaspoon of cooking oil and store them in the refrigerator.
Last minute, all you need to do is cook the upma. A hearty breakfast is on the table in under 30 minutes.
Watch Semiya Upma Video
Serving Suggestion
You can serve vermicelli upma as a breakfast or a teatime snack.
The green mint chutney or the traditional coconut chutney tastes best with the upma. You can pack it for the office or school lunchbox as well. It is easy to carry around, store, and reheat.
More Indian Breakfast Recipes
- South Indian Rava Upma
- Sabudana Khichdi
- Masala Bath
- Matar Poha
- Indori Poha
- Dalia Upma
Ingredients
- ▢ 2 Cup vermicelli (semiya)
- ▢ 2 teaspoon cooking oil
- ▢ 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
- ▢ 1 teaspoon urad dal (skinned)
- ▢ ¼ Cup peanuts
- ▢ 1 sprig curry leaves
- ▢ 1 medium-size onion, fine chopped
- ▢ ¼ Cup potato, fine chopped
- ▢ ¼ Cup green peas (fresh or frozen )
- ▢ ¼ Cup carrot, fine chopped
- ▢ Salt to taste
- ▢ 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ▢ ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ▢ Juice of one lemon
Instructions
How To Boil Vermicelli (Semiya):
- Add 4 cups of water and a teaspoon of salt in a large saucepan. Turn on the gas stove.
- Once the water starts boiling, add vermicelli. Stir and cook for 10 minutes or until softened.
- Transfer to a metal colander. Drain all the water. Rinse vermicelli nicely with cold or running water. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil and mix. Set aside till required.
How To Make Semiya Upma:
- Heat oil in a kadhai or pan. Add mustard seeds. Allow them to crackle.
- Add urad dal and fry for few seconds or till turn light golden in colour.
- Next, add the peanut and fry for a minute.
- Now add the curry leaves and onion. Fry till onion turn light golden in colour.
- Add mix vegetable, salt, spices and stir to combine. Cover and cook till the vegetables are tender.
- Once vegetables are cooked, add boiled vermicelli and gently mix all the ingredients together.
- Drizzle lemon juice and sprinkle fresh coriander leaves. Mix nicely.
- Serve Vermicelli Upma with green chutney and a hot cup of tea.
Recipe Notes:
- Add vermicelli in the water only when it is a roaring boil. Do not add vermicelli before that stage.
- Vermicelli or semiya does not take too long to get cooked. So while boiling keep checking them for doneness. Usually, vermicelli does not take more than 10 minutes to get perfectly boiled.
- To make a vegan vermicelli upma, use refined oil or coconut oil instead of ghee.
- You can store semiya upma for 2 – 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat it in a microwave or a frying pan.
Nutrition
We follow a strict NO SPAM Policy
Vermicelli Upma Recipe
Equipment
- Heavy Bottom Kadhai
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 2 Cup vermicelli (semiya)
- 2 teaspoon cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
- 1 teaspoon urad dal (skinned)
- ¼ Cup peanuts
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 medium-size onion, fine chopped
- ¼ Cup potato, fine chopped
- ¼ Cup green peas (fresh or frozen )
- ¼ Cup carrot, fine chopped
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- Juice of one lemon
Instructions
How To Boil Vermicelli (Semiya):
- Add 4 cups of water and a teaspoon of salt in a large saucepan. Turn on the gas stove.
- Once the water starts boiling, add vermicelli. Stir and cook for 10 minutes or until softened.
- Transfer to a metal colander. Drain all the water. Rinse vermicelli nicely with cold or running water. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil and mix. Set aside till required.
How To Make Semiya Upma:
- Heat oil in a kadhai or pan. Add mustard seeds. Allow them to crackle.
- Add urad dal and fry for few seconds or till turn light golden in colour.
- Next, add the peanut and fry for a minute.
- Now add the curry leaves and onion. Fry till onion turn light golden in colour.
- Add mix vegetable, salt, spices and stir to combine. Cover and cook till the vegetables are tender.
- Once vegetables are cooked, add boiled vermicelli and gently mix all the ingredients together.
- Drizzle lemon juice and sprinkle fresh coriander leaves. Mix nicely.
- Serve Vermicelli Upma with green chutney and a hot cup of tea.
Video
Notes
- Add vermicelli in the water only when it is a roaring boil. Do not add vermicelli before that stage.
- Vermicelli or semiya does not take too long to get cooked. So while boiling keep checking them for doneness. Usually, vermicelli does not take more than 10 minutes to get perfectly boiled.
- To make a vegan vermicelli upma, use refined oil or coconut oil instead of ghee.
- You can store semiya upma for 2 - 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat it in a microwave or a frying pan.
Nutrition
Khamang Kakdi is a healthy and tasty Maharashtrian-style vegetarian cucumber salad also known as Kakdi Chi Koshimbir.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
- About Koshimbir
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How To Make Khamang Kakdi
- My Tried and True Tips
- Khamang Kakdi Recipe
About Koshimbir
Koshimbir or Kosambari is a term for traditional Indian ‘salad’ recipes with pulses, peanuts, and cucumbers. Kakdi is the Hindi term for cucumber. It is a vegan, gluten-free salad perfect for Indian meals.
You can sample a variety of Kosambari salads in Maharashtrian, Kannada, or Tamil Cuisines. It is served in small quantities at the beginning of a traditional meal to build the appetite or as sattvic prasad in temples.
Unlike other salads, a delicious Indian-style tempering (tadka) is added to a Kosambiri, making it unique.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Cucumber: Use English, Spanish, Chinese or Indian Cucumbers.
- Peanut: Skinned, roasted peanuts are a good choice for khamang kakdi.
- Coconut: Use freshly grated coconut, not pre-packaged, desiccated, or frozen.
- Seasoning: Salt, Lemon Juice, Green Chilli, Jaggery Powder or Sugar
- Tempering: Sesame or Coconut Oil, Mustard Seeds, Urad Dal, Curry Leaves
- Other Ingredients: Fresh Coriander, Green Chilli
How To Make Khamang Kakdi
Step 1) Chop the cucumbers. Transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Season them with salt, mix, and set aside for 10 minutes.
Step 2) Heat a small pan and add peanuts. You can skip this step of roasting peanuts if you have pre-roasted, skinned peanuts.
Step 3) On low heat, dry roast the peanuts while stirring continuously till a few black spots appear on them. Keep them aside till they are cooled completely.
Step 4) Rub roasted peanuts between your palms; the skin comes out easily. Transfer them to a mortar and pestle. Crush the peanuts to a coarse powder.
Step 5) Squeeze water from the cucumber by cupping them between your palms or holding them in your fist. Or you can tie them to a muslin cloth and squeeze gently to drain out excess liquid.
Step 6) Transfer cucumber to a bowl. Add chopped green chilli, grated coconut, salt, lemon juice, and sugar. Mix nicely.
Step 7) Prepare tadka with heating oil. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, and curry leaves. Allow the seeds to pop.
Step 8) Pour this sizzling tadka over the khamang kakdi. Add crushed peanuts and chopped coriander, and mix nicely.
Khamang Kakdi is ready to serve.
My Tried and True Tips
- If you prefer fewer seeds in cucumber, scoop them out before chopping or use English Cucumber. Indian variety of cucumber has a lot of seeds and pulp.
- Make sure to squeeze out water from the cucumber so that the khamang kakdi does not become soggy or watery.
- You can refrigerate this cucumber salad for a couple of hours before serving. Place it in an air-tight container and season with salt and sugar before serving.
- Instead of roasting peanuts at home , you can use pre-roasted, skinned peanuts for this Kakdi Koshimbir.
More Salad Recipes
- Korean Cucumber Salad
- Green Barley Salad
- Mung Sprout Salad
- Kachumber Salad
- Kosambari Salad
- Pomelo Salad
- Chana Salad
Get all my Salad Recipes here and you can watch the videos on Instagram .
Ingredients
- ▢ 2 Cup diced cucumber
- ▢ 1 green chilli chopped
- ▢ 2 tablespoon grated coconut
- ▢ 1 teaspoon jaggery powder or sugar
- ▢ 1 ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ▢ 2 tablespoon crushed peanuts
- ▢ 2 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
Ingredients For Tadka (Tempering)
- ▢ 2 tablespoon peanut oil
- ▢ 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds (rai)
- ▢ 1 teaspoon white urad dal
- ▢ 1 tablespoon curry leaves
Instructions
- Heat a small pan and add peanuts. You can skip this step of roasting peanuts if you have pre-roasted, skinned peanuts.
- On low heat, dry roast the peanuts while stirring continuously till a few black spots appear on them. Keep them aside till they are cooled completely.
- Rub roasted peanuts between your palms; the skin comes out easily. Transfer them to a mortar and pestle. Crush the peanuts to a coarse powder.
- Chop the cucumbers. Transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Season them with salt, mix, and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Squeeze water from the cucumber by cupping them between your palms or holding them in your fist. Or you can tie them to a muslin cloth and squeeze gently to drain out excess liquid. Transfer cucumber to a bowl.
- Add chopped green chilli, grated coconut, salt, lemon juice, and sugar to the cucumber. Mix nicely.
- Prepare tadka with heating oil. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, and curry leaves. Allow the seeds to pop.
- Pour this sizzling tadka over the khamang kakdi. Add crushed peanuts and chopped coriander, and mix nicely.
- Khamang Kakdi is ready to serve.
Recipe Notes:
- For tadka, you can use sesame, coconut, or peanut oil.
- Instead of roasting peanuts at home , you can use pre-roasted, skinned peanuts for this Kakdi Koshimbir.
- I use Indian cucumber for making this salad. If you prefer fewer seeds in cucumber, scoop them out before chopping.
Nutrition
We follow a strict NO SPAM Policy
