Sooji Balls (Semolina Balls, Rava Balls)
on May 07, 2025, Updated May 21, 2025
Sooji Balls (Semolina Balls, Rava Balls) is an easy and simple breakfast dish prepared with semolina. Serve it for breakfast or snacks with your favorite chutney (vegan).
Here are more Indian breakfast recipes that you may like: Spot Idli, Neer Dosa, and Ragi Idli, Kuzhi Paniyaram.
About Sooji Balls (Semolina Balls, Rava Balls)
Sooji Balls (Semolina Balls, Rava Balls) is an interesting breakfast or snack recipe prepared by steaming and tempering soft and spongy semolina balls.
Semolina (Sooji) is cooked, formed into small balls, steamed, and later tempered to make these delicious semolina balls.
This vegan recipe is easy to make, needs simple pantry ingredients, and comes together in under 50 minutes.
Serve semolina balls with coconut chutney, coconut cilantro chutney, or any other chutney, and a hot cup of coffee or tea.
Ingredients
For The Semolina Balls
You will need fine semolina (baarik sooji), oil, onions, fresh ginger, water, and salt. You can skip onions to make a no onion no garlic version of this recipe.
For Tempering
To temper the suji balls, you will need oil, brown mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafetida (hing), chana dal (Bengal gram), white urad dal (split and skinned black lentils), curry leaves, dry red chilies, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, cilantro (fresh coriander leaves) and lime juice.
How To Make Sooji Balls
Cook The Sooji
Add 1 cup of sooji to a pan and dry roast on medium heat until golden brown (7-8 minutes), stirring continuously to avoid burning at the bottom of the pan.
Remove the pan from the heat and keep it aside.
Heat 2 tablespoon oil in another pan over medium-high heat.
Note – You can transfer the roasted sooji to a plate and use the same pan to make the further recipe.
Once the oil is hot, add ¼ cup of chopped onions and 1 teaspoon grated ginger and fry for 30-40 seconds, stirring frequently.
Add 2.5 cups of water and 1 teaspoon salt to the pan and bring it to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low.
Now start adding the roasted sooji and mix simultaneously to make a lump-free mixture.
Cover the pan with a lid and cook undisturbed for 10 minutes.
Remove the pan from heat and let the mixture cool down for 10 minutes.
Make Sooji Balls
Transfer the cooked sooji to a flat surface and mash it using your palms (or the back of a steel bowl) until the mixture is smooth.
Note – Make sure the cooked semolina is still slightly hot otherwise, the balls will crumble.
Make small lime-sized balls from the mixture.
Steam The Balls
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a steamer over high heat.
Arrange the balls on the steamer plate in a single layer and steam them for 10-12 minutes on high heat.
You can also use an idli steamer to steam the balls.
Temper The Semolina Balls
Heat 2 tablespoon oil for tempering in a pan.
Once the oil is hot, add 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds and 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and let them crackle for 3-4 seconds.
Add the following ingredients to the pan and fry until the dal turns brown. Stir frequently.
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida
- 1 teaspoon chana dal
- 1 teaspoon white urad dal
- 10-12 chopped curry leaves
- 2 dry red chilies (broken into small pieces)
Add ½ teaspoon turmeric powder and ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder and fry for 10-12 seconds.
Now add the steamed sooji ball, 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro, and 1 tablespoon lime juice to the pan and toss well.
Serve hot.
Serving Suggestions
Serve Sooji Balls with white coconut chutney, mint coconut chutney, red chilli coconut chutney, onion tomato chutney, or any other chutney of your choice, and a cup of tea or coffee.
Storage Suggestions
Semolina Balls can be stored for 2-3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Microwave or steam them for 20-30 seconds before serving.
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Sooji Balls Recipe (Semolina Balls, Rava Balls)
Ingredients
For The Balls
- 1 cup fine sooji (semolina)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ¼ cup chopped onions
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 2.5 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
For Tempering
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing)
- 1 teaspoon chana dal (Bengal gram)
- 1 teaspoon white urad dal (split and skinned black lentils)
- 10-12 curry leaves (chopped)
- 2 dry red chilies (broken into small pieces)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (fresh coriander leaves)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Instructions
Cook The Sooji
- Add sooji to a pan and dry roast on medium heat until golden brown (7-8 minutes), stirring continuously to avoid burning at the bottom of the pan.
- Remove the pan from the heat and keep it aside.
- Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add onions and ginger and fry for 30-40 seconds, stirring frequently.
- Add water and salt to the pan and bring it to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low.
- Now start adding the roasted sooji and mix simultaneously to make a lump-free mixture.
- Cover the pan with a lid and cook undisturbed for 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from heat and let the mixture cool down for 10 minutes.
Make Sooji Balls
- Transfer the cooked sooji to a flat surface and mash it using your palms (or the back of a steel bowl) until the mixture is smooth.
- Note – Make sure the cooked semolina is still slightly hot otherwise the balls will crumble.
- Make small lime-sized balls from the mixture.
Steam The Balls
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a steamer over high heat.
- Arrange the sooji balls on the steamer plate in a single layer and steam them for 10-12 minutes on high heat.
- You can also use an idli steamer to steam the balls.
Temper The Semolina Balls
- Heat oil for tempering in a pan.
- Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and let them crackle for 3-4 seconds.
- Add asafetida, chana dal, urad dal, curry leaves, and red chilies to the pan and fry until the dal turn brown. Stir frequently.
- Add turmeric powder and Kashmiri red chili powder and fry for 10-12 seconds.
- Now add the steamed sooji ball, cilantro, and lime juice to the pan and toss well.
- Serve hot.
can we make and steam the balls a day ahead (store in refrigerator)… n temper them the next day !!
will they keep fine ?
They get a little dry if steamed in advance but you can splash some watr while tempering and they will be fine.
My fam really loved it. Thank you for this recipe, a very good alternative to upma.
Thanks for trying 🙂