Looking for some weekend cooking adventures? Here you can rescue from your thoughts with the healthy Oats Upma Recipe! After trying this delicious dish of Oats, you would be amazed that even oats can taste wonderful. It is healthy yet a tasty recipe which is simple and quick to make on busy mornings. Also, it is one of the easy great vegan dish options. It has a blend of oats in the form of upma along with other fresh vegetables, some spice powders, Indian condiments and herbs. This dish, inspired from basic Upma of South Indian Cuisine is a complete combination of energy and nutrients. It’s a perfect breakfast which can give a super boost to your day!
Oats Upma
- Author: Chandni Agrawal
- Recipe Category: Snacks
- Cuisine: Indian
Description: The healthy and tasty Oats Upma Recipe can be quickly made at home in few minutes. It is a perfect breakfast full of nutritional values which is also tasty.
Ingredients for Oats Upma Recipe:
- Quick Cooking Oats/ Rolling Oats – 1 cup
- Oil – ½ tsp. for roasting oats
- Turmeric Powder/ Haldi – 1 tsp.
- Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp.
- Urad Dal – 1 tsp.
- Whole Dry Red Chili – 2 pieces
- Groundnut – 8 to 10 pieces
- Cashew – 8 to 10 pieces ( optional )
- Chopped Green Chili – 1 piece
- Finely Chopped Onion – 1 tbsp.
- Chopped Ginger – 1 inch
- Chopped Carrot – 1 tbsp. ( optional )
- Green Peas – ¼ cup ( optional )
- Curry Leaves – 4-5 leaves
- Sugar – 1 tsp.
- Lemon Juice – as needed
- Salt to taste
- Oil/ Ghee – 1 tbsp.
- Water – 1 cup or as required
- Chopped Coriander Leaves
Note: You can also add French Beans (also called as Fansi) in your oats vegetable upma. You may add the chopped bell peppers to make it more colourful and a pinch of Asafoetida will make the Upma more flavorful.
The quick oats mentioned here are the Quaker Oats which are available in the market. If you are using the rolled oats to make this recipe then you would a little extra cup of water than usual approximately 2.3 to 3 cups for the measure of 1 cup oats. For all those making the oats upma for the health benefits, it is advisable for them to use rolled oats.
If you do not have Urad Dal then skip using them. You can also use Chana Dal or Gram flour to the recipe which will give it different flavours and taste. You can either Coconut oil, Sesame oil, sunflower oil or any other vegetable oil for the cooking.
A method for Oats Upma Recipe:
Roasting the Oats:
- Heat ½ of oil in a pan over a medium flame.
- When the oil starts to crackle, mix 1 cup of quick oats in the pan.
- Continuously stir the oats and be careful that they do not get burnt.
- While you sauté, lower the flame and sprinkle ½ turmeric powder.
- Fry the oats evenly until they become crispy. Avoid from browning them.
- Transfer the oats to a bowl or a plate and keep it aside.
Note: Use the thick-bottomed pan to sauté the oats. You can dry roast the oats a day before also and keep in stored in air-tight container.
Making Upma:
- Now, again take the other heavy non-stick pan to heat oil or ghee.
- Add mustard seeds and curry leaves in the heated oil. Let them crackle.
- Now mix in the whole dry red chilli. Also, add Urad dal and groundnut. Fry until they become light brown.
- If you are using cashew, then add it along with groundnut.
- Now transfer the finely chopped onions to the pan and sauté till they become translucent and golden brown in colour.
- Once onions are cooked and turned soft, add chopped green chilli along with carrot and green peas.
- Stir the mixture for a while and let them cook for 2 minutes.
- Now, mix the roasted oats with the cooked vegetables and stir everything well.
- Sprinkle the pinch of salt, sugar and ½ tsp turmeric powder and season the mixture properly.
- Give a good stir. Then, pour 1-2 cups of water. Adjust amount of water accordingly.
- On low flame steam the oats for 5-6 minutes by covering the pan with the lid.
- Just before switching off the stove. Season with the chopped coriander leaves and drizzle some lemon juice.
- Once again, stir well the prepared oats and check for the taste. You can add anything if you feel.
And the healthy and delicious Oats upma is ready to be savoured!
Note: Do not add too much water, otherwise there would be no fun in eating upma. Also, the less proportion of water will make the upma dry, so be careful about the addition of water. The upma should not be gooey in nature and must have the nice looking texture.
Additional Information:
- Calories: 200 calories
- Total Time: PT25M
- Serves: 2
- Date Published: 2016-12-25
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As oats are nothing but the healthy cereals, you can give to your kids and include them for the food of your entire family. I make this oats upma for my son also. I avoid adding green chilies for him. I also don’t add Urad dal for him because fried dal is difficult for him to chew. If you want to add Urad dal then boil it before adding it. Also for using tomatoes see that you remove the skin of tomato because it’s also difficult for him to gulp it. My child loves this try for you children also! The colourful oats upma has a good texture and taste. This Indo-Western fusion dish comprises of the nutritional quotient of oats with flavours of veggies and spices.
The final flavours of this upma with oats and extremely nice and delightful. It is a light weight food which is also tummy filling. If you are hesitating to make oats, then do not worry, the detailed recipe instructions will be helpful for all who those who are unknown about cooking oats. The cooking is simple, all you have to do is chop the veggies you are using, roast the oats evenly and then cook them together with the sprinkle of masala powders. The scrumptious tempering with flavouring agents and herbs gives an appealing aroma to the dish.
If oat is the most loved ingredient in your family, then this delicious and creamy oats upma is best choice to make for a morning breakfast, brunch, lunch, and evening snack or for any meal. It can be prepared in less than half hour without much of overdoing. Make it yourself for dinner if you do not prefer eating carbs at night. You might be apprehensive at first as oats are bit slimy when cooked and you might want to have it the porridge way with boiled milk or water but try giving your oats a tweak. For all food-lover folks who are health conscious, can try this healthy alternative of tasty upma!
Remarks:
- Total time required for cooking of Oats Upma Recipe is 25 minutes.
- The measured proportion of ingredients serves 2 people.
- You can add cashew and groundnut both or any one of them.
- You also use frozen peas or the fresh peas. If using the frozen peas, then thaw properly before the use.
- Sugar can be omitted if you don’t prefer the sweet taste.
- If you like the tangy flavour, then chopped tomatoes can be used. And if you prefer it to be Chatpata then you can use Pav-Bhaji Masala or the Chaat Masala Powder or even the Sambar Powder would do.
- If making for toddlers then don’t add green chilli and cook the vegetables properly.
- If oats are cooked properly, then they would not become mushy or slimy.
- For the extra creaminess and the granulated texture, you can add grated coconut.
- If you are making this dish for the heart patient, then use cholesterol free butter or take oil/ghee is very less proportion.
Garnishing:
Take the oats upma in a plate and serve it warm plain or with any chutney. Garnish with:
- Coriander Leaves
- Lemon Wedges
- Cilantro Leaves
- Onion Rings
Quick Tip:
- It tastes best when served with a glass of orange juice.
- Oats can be boiled in the microwave as well.
- Having this on the regular basis can help in reducing weight.
The oats upma can be packed for kids’ lunchbox and tiffin for our family members. Consuming Oats in your daily diet can improve your cholesterol as it contains irons and fibre in great proportion. If you are looking for more variety of upma recipes then you can try tangy flavoured Tomato Upma, healthy Vermicelli Upma which is good when you are on weight loss diet, Idli Upma, Quinoa Upma, Rava Upma, Onion Upma, Poha Upma and Bread Upma.
The other such healthy breakfast from oats can be oats idli, oats dosa, oats uttapam and much such more. You can also make Masala Oats, Lemon Oats, or Oats Chivda if you are searching for the tastier oats options.