South Indian

Khara Bath (Karnataka Spicy Semolina Upma)

Khara Bath (Karnataka Spicy Semolina Upma) is South Indian home cooking, eaten at breakfast and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.

30 min Easy Heart healthy Vegetarian Halal Pescatarian

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups coarse semolina (rava)
  • 1 cup mixed vegetables (carrot, beans, peas)
  • 1 onion
  • 2 green chilies
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 10 curry leaves
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp chana dal
  • 1 tsp urad dal
  • 1/4 cup cashews
  • 3 tbsp ghee
  • 3.5 cups water
  • 1 lemon
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 tsp salt

How to cook it

  1. Dry roast the semolina in a pan over medium heat until pale gold and fragrant, about 5 minutes, then set it aside.
  2. Heat the ghee in the same pan and fry the cashews until golden, then add the mustard seeds, chana dal, and urad dal and let them sizzle and turn golden.
  3. Add the curry leaves, green chilies, ginger, and onion and cook until soft, then stir in the tomato and mixed vegetables and cook for 4 minutes.
  4. Pour in the water with the salt and bring to a boil, then rain in the semolina while stirring constantly so no lumps form.
  5. Cover and cook on low until the water is absorbed and the khara bath is fluffy, then finish with lemon juice and cilantro and serve hot.

Serve it with

A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Khara Bath (Karnataka Spicy Semolina Upma), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.

A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.

Safe at your table

Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Khara Bath (Karnataka Spicy Semolina Upma) carries tree nuts, dairy, and gluten. It is free of the remaining 7 allergens on that list.

Every tracked allergen in Khara Bath (Karnataka Spicy Semolina Upma)
Allergen In this dish Cook this instead
Peanuts No
Tree nuts Yes Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa)
Dairy Yes Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa)
Gluten Yes Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa)
Shellfish No
Eggs No
Soy No
Fish No
Sesame No
Coconut No

These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.

What it brings to the plate

Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.

Calorie band
Hearty
Protein
Low
Food groups it covers
Grains, Vegetables, and Nuts and seeds
How this was set
Hand audited

When to cook it

Khara Bath (Karnataka Spicy Semolina Upma) takes about 30 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is easy going. It is eaten at breakfast and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.

Watch someone make it

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More to cook

Cook this with your whole family

Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.

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Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.