Upma calories
A plate of rava upma from 40 g of semolina has about 310 calories, and a 200 ml katori about 215. With a cup of chai it's about 375. Ghee matters as much as the rava: a teaspoon on top takes the plate to about 355. Udupi upma, a bigger plate with ghee, runs about 310 to 510.
Upma is roasted semolina (rava, suji) cooked in water with a tempering of mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, green chilli, ginger and onion. It's a quick breakfast across south and west India, made plain or with peas, carrot and beans, and in Karnataka it's uppittu or kharabath.
Semolina and oil make up most of upma's calories, in about equal parts in this textbook recipe. How much water it's cooked with changes what a katori holds.
Typical values for a home kitchen, for the portion named next to each number. Other sites often show bigger numbers because they count a bigger serving or a restaurant recipe. Your own katori, roti and oil change the number; Slate adjusts for them.
How many calories are in upma?
| Portion | Cals | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 small bowl (20 g rava) about 104 g | 155 | 3 g | 17 g | 8 g |
| 1 plate (40 g rava) about 208 g | 310 | 7 g | 34 g | 16 g |
| 1 katori (200 ml) about 144 g | 215 | 5 g | 24 g | 11 g |
| 1 plate with 1 tsp ghee on top about 208 g | 355 | 7 g | 34 g | 21 g |
| 100 g about 100 g | 150 | 3 g | 16 g | 8 g |
How does home upma compare with outside?
Upma in a darshini or Udupi restaurant is usually a generous plate, often with ghee on top and cashews in the tempering.
No lab has measured it, so the range below allows a plate up to 1.5 times this one, with up to a teaspoon of ghee.
| Version | Cals | Fat |
|---|---|---|
| Home | 310 | 16 g |
| Darshini or Udupi restaurant | 310 to 510 | 16 to 29 g |
Calories in upma as a meal
| Portion | Cals | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A plate of upma and a cup of chai | 375 | 8 g | 45 g | 17 g |
What changes the calories in upma?
- Oil or ghee matters as much as the rava. Each teaspoon adds about 40 to 45 calories.
- Vegetables like peas, carrot and beans add volume and a few calories, so a vegetable upma has less per katori.
- Cashews in the tempering add about 60 calories per 10 g.
- Wetter upma fills more katoris with the same calories. Count by the rava when you can.
How were these numbers worked out?
The recipe is the semolina upma in Basic Food Preparation (via the Indian Nutrient Databank): 40 g of coarse semolina with 5 g of urad dal, 30 g of onion, green chilli, ginger, curry leaves, mustard seeds and lemon, cooked in 15 g of oil and 100 ml of water, for 2 small bowls, the oil counted as eaten, at IFCT 2017 values. The ingredients added together weigh about 208 g, so the plate, the whole recipe, is 310 calories and the pot 150 per 100 g; a katori is measured at USDA's 170 g per cup for upma, so a 200 ml katori is 215. The checks pull apart, ICMR-NIN's cup of upma at 270 calories 25% above and USDA's survey upma at 87 per 100 g 42% below, because the water content differs, so the page shows a range. The restaurant range assumes a plate up to 1.5 times as big with up to a teaspoon of ghee on top. Every dish on Slate is worked out the same way: how Slate counts calories.
| Ingredient | Raw | Values from |
|---|---|---|
| Semolina (suji, rava) | 40 g | IFCT 2017 A022 |
| Black gram dal (urad) in the tempering | 5 g | IFCT 2017 B003 |
| Onion, big | 30 g | IFCT 2017 G017 |
| Chillies, green | 5 g | IFCT 2017 G008 |
| Ginger, fresh | 5 g | IFCT 2017 G014 |
| Red chillies, dry, whole | 1.7 g | IFCT 2017 G022 |
| Mustard seeds | 0.8 g | IFCT 2017 H013 |
| Lemon juice | 5 g | IFCT 2017 E033 |
| Groundnut oil a little over 3 teaspoons | 15 g | IFCT 2017 T005 |
| Water | 100 g | no calories |
Upma varies a lot with the water. ICMR-NIN counts a cup at 270 calories, above this page's 215, while USDA's much wetter upma is about 87 per 100 g against 150 here. A 200 ml katori can be anywhere from about 125 to 270.
Sources
- ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. Wheat semolina (A022), black gram dal (B003), onion, green chilli, ginger, red chillies, mustard seeds (H013), lemon juice, oil; values read from github.com/nodef/ifct2017
- Vijayakumar et al., Indian Nutrient Databank (INDB), Current Developments in Nutrition, 2024. Basic Food Preparation recipe BFP039, semolina upma
- ICMR-NIN, Dietary Guidelines for Indians: A Manual (2011). Annexure 8: upma 270 kcal per cup
- USDA FoodData Central, FNDDS Upma (2709128). 87 kcal per 100 g; 170 g per cup
Questions people ask
How many calories are in 1 plate of upma?
About 310 for a plate made from 40 g of rava with 15 g of oil, and about 355 with a teaspoon of ghee on top.
How many calories are in 1 katori of upma?
About 215 in a 200 ml katori of this upma.
How much protein is in upma?
About 7 g in a plate, from the semolina and urad dal.
Which has more calories, upma or poha?
Close. A plate of this upma is about 310, and a plate of poha made from 40 g of poha about 315.
Which has more calories, upma or idli?
Upma, per plate, because of the oil. Two medium idlis are about 105, before sambar and chutney.
How many calories are in upma and chai?
A plate of upma with a cup of masala chai with 2 teaspoons of sugar comes to about 375 calories.