Jowar Rava Upma is a wholesome, delicious, and diabetic-friendly recipe. This savoury pudding, a South Indian delicacy, is called Upma or Upit. It is a porridge with a low glycemic index and a steady energy source. Yet it is packed with fibre and nutrients and is healthy, hearty, wholesome, and quick to make.

I have used Jowar Rava, cream of sorghum, or broken jowar with vegetables to make it more wholesome. This way, we do not need any side dishes. However, you can serve it with chutney, sambhar, and dahi. I recommend using dry chutney powders like this Karnataka-style Chatni Pudi. Upma, or Upit, as it is called, is served as breakfast, lunch, or even dinner.
Broken grains cook faster and can be used to make puddings and porridge. They are also easier to digest, making them a favourite for toddlers, geriatrics, and people recovering from ailments. However, if you cannot find the jowar rava like me, you can easily make Upma with regular Rava.
Our favourites for breakfast are regular Upma, Corn Upit, Bread Upit or Bread Upma. I used the Quinoa Upma to make Upma Pesaraattu, and we loved it.
Sharing my category of breakfast specials we love.
Jump to:
A little about Millets
Millets are ancient grains cultivated on earth. Because they are protein, fibre, vitamin, and mineral-rich, they have become the most sought-after grains. Various millets are available, including jowar (sorghum), ragi (finger millet), and sand ama (little millet).
Millets are one of my favourite cereals, and I have several recipes for them on the blog. You will love how easily you can add them to your meal plan and enjoy them. To begin your journey with millet, start with my daughter's favourite Little Millets Khichidi.
Ingredients for Jowar Rava Upma
Here are the ingredients you need to make jowar upma:

- Jowar Rava: Also known as Jonna rava, it is coarsely ground sorghum grain.
- Clarified Butter: I like to use homemade clarified butter or ghee.
- Tempering Ingredients: I use oil, mustard, green chillies, split urid dal, curry leaves, asafoetida and cashews.
- Vegetables: I use mixed vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, and green peas. I also used onions and tomatoes.
- Garnish: Cashew nuts, freshly grated coconut, coriander leaves and lemon.
Instructions for Jowar Rava Upma
- Fry the cashew nuts in clarified butter, drain and set aside.
- Roast the jowar rava. Transfer and set aside.
- In the same wok, make a tempering and stir fry the onions and the vegetables.
There are 2 ways of making the Upma from here on
Method 1
- Add water to the wok, add salt and bring to a boil. Add the rava and mix.
Method 2
- Add the rava and salt to the wok. Add boiling water and mix well.
- Cook covered for about 5 minutes.
- Garnish with coriander, cashew nuts and coconut and serve.
- I serve the lemon on the side.
Substitutions for Jowar Rava Upma
- Jowar Rava: Use regular rava or semolina made from wheat.
- Clarified butter or ghee: Replace it with any neutral, odourless oil.
- Vegetables: You can make this upit without vegetables, but adding them makes the dish colourful and filling.
Variations for Jowar Rava Upma
- Whole grains: In place of rava, use whole grains like this quinoa upma I made.
- Protein-rich: Add boiled chickpeas and peas. My friend's mother used to add shrimp to her Upma, much to my daughter's delight.
- Vegetables: In my hometown, we use cucumber, cabbage, capsicum, and potato. When in season, you can use broccoli, edamame, and fresh pigeon peas.
- More spicy: This Upma is mildly pungent. If you need it spicy, add more chillies to your upma. Serve it with a tangy chutney like this Kathiyawadi Garlic Chutney.
Cooking Styles for Jowar Rava Upma
- Stovetop: this is the traditional method. I prefer it over others as I can control the texture and consistency.
- Pressure Cooker: Some of my friends swear by this method. They follow the same procedure as the rava, making the tempering in a pressure cooker and cooking for one whistle.
- Instapot: My friend Pavani has made hers in the Instapot.
Equipment for Jowar Rava Upma
- Wok with a lid
- Spoons and ladles
- Plates to keep the roasted rava and fried cashew nuts
- Plates to serve
Storage for Jowar Rava Upma
I have stored the cooked upma in the fridge in an airtight container for about three days. In my place, it never lasts beyond that.
I freeze the roasted rava and the veggies(I call it upma premix) in a Ziploc bag. When we need Upma, we warm the mix a little so that the lumps break, then add boiling water (the proportion is 1:1) to the premix. Within 5 minutes, your delicious garam garam upma is ready.
Protips for Jowar Rava Upma
- Roast the rava well on low flame, or your upma will not taste good.
- I prefer to roast any rava with ghee. You can roast it with oil or just plain.
- Ghee gives the upma a wonderful flavour.
- Roasting the rava is very quick, especially in the microwave. I do it in 30-second increments three times. Then, combine all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and cook in intervals, stirring in between. It takes about 2-3 minutes in mine.
FAQ's for Jowar Rava Upma
What is so good about Jowar Rava Upma for Diabetics?
Jowar Rava is Ideal for Diabetics as it has a Low Glycemic Index, which helps control blood sugar spikes. It is rich in fibre, keeps you fuller for longer and aids digestion. You get a meal Packed with Nutrients High in magnesium, iron, and protein for overall health. If you need Gluten intolerant, it is perfect for you.
How do you roast the Rava in a Microwave?
Add rava to a microwave-safe bowl. I use clarified butter, so add 1 tablespoon for 240 grams (1 standard cup)of rava and stir well. Microwave for 1 minute, stir, and return to the microwave until you get an aroma.
I need to microwave for 3 minutes in my microwave, but the minimum time is one minute, which works fine for me. Please check your microwave settings and adjust them accordingly.
What are the other names of Upma?
The other names for Upma are Uppittu, Uppamavu, and Kharabhat.
Pairing Recipe for Jowar Rava Upma
You can serve Upma with
Every month, I participate in Shhh! Secretly Cooking, where we are paired with other members to prepare a dish using Secret Ingredients based on a specific theme.

This month, Preethi Prasad's theme was Diabetic-Friendly Food. I have been eyeing her recipe for Black Gram Sprouts and Bajra Tikki.
Priya, whose Rajma Sundal is a delicious side dish for this plate of Upma, gave me the ingredients of Jowar Rava and Ghee as we were short on people.
This post was published on 14 Nov 2013, and I am updating the pictures and write-up.
Summary
Jowar Rava Upma is a wholesome, delicious, and diabetic-friendly recipe. The Low glycemic index of the Jowar Rave is ideal for diabetics and anyone who wants to adopt a healthy lifestyle. The fresh vegetables and spices help make a flavourful and quick meal. Try it and leave me a rating of how you enjoyed it.

Jowar Rava Upma Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Kadhai/wok with lid
- Spoons and Ladles
- Plates
Ingredients
- 1 cup jowar rava
- 2 tablespoon ghee
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon hing
- ½ teaspoon urid dal
- 2-3 green chillies slit
- 1 spring of curry leaves
- 3 onion chopped
- 1 carrot diced
- 1 cup cauliflower diced
- ½ cup green peas
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1-½ cups hot water
- salt to taste
- 10 cashew nuts
- 1 tablespoon coriander leaves
- 2 tablespoon fresh coconut
- 1 lemon optional
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoon ghee in a wok. Lower the flame and fry the 10 cashew nuts. Drain and set aside.
- In the same pan with the ghee on low flame, add the 1 cup jowar rava (1) and stir fry well until the rava has a lovely aroma and the rava changes colour (2). Transfer to another plate (3)and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the same wok, lower the flame, and make a tempering of ½ teaspoon mustard. Then add the ½ teaspoon urid dal, 2-3 green chillies, 1 spring of curry leaves and ¼ teaspoon hing.
- Stir-fry the 3 onion until translucent, then add the veggies.
- First, add the 1 carrot. As these change colour, add the 1 cup cauliflower and ½ cup green peas. Cook covered until ¾ done. Add the 1 tomato and mix well.
- Add 1-½ cups hot water (1) and salt (2) and mix. Once the water starts boiling, add the roasted rava (3)and mix well.
- Cover and cook for about 5 minutes (1). Add the 1 tablespoon coriander leaves (2)and cashew nuts (3), mix well, and switch off the flame.
- Let it stand covered for about 5 minutes.
- Garnish with 2 tablespoon fresh coconut. Serve.
Video

Notes
- You can use corn, too.
- When you need an Upma without onion, add cabbage instead of onion. I suggest cooking the other veggies first before adding the cabbage.
- You can add capsicums or bell peppers. Since we do not like them cooked, I add them with the rava, in the end. You can add them with the carrots and the cauliflower if you desire.
shama says
delicious upma
themadscientistskitchen says
Thanks Shama
swathiiyer says
Thanks Archana for joining me in creating awareness on Diabetes on this world diabetes day. Delicious and healthy recipe, yes it is hard to know that loved one have diabetes.
themadscientistskitchen says
The pleasure wall all mine. I am glad that i could reproduce most of all that I had read with a little help of course. 😉
smithakal says
very nice informative post abt the disease.. The upma is apt
themadscientistskitchen says
Thanks
raman says
Thanks for the writup, its awesome.
nayana says
a very healthy uppit, loved the idea of using jowar rawa....
savita says
Hi.
Im savita from hubli karnataka... I really liked ur suggessions on daibetics.... My husband is 37 yrs old n hes been put on aspirin after stenting for blocked LAD.
And he has a strong family history of daibeties n heart diseases...... Though he still safe from this deadly desease.....
Still i keep on surfing for the best diet for him .. is it possible to keep him away from daibeties with diet ?
Let me kno.
Im also in need to know food that can reduce his cholesterol levels......
Yhank u
Savita...