5-Minute Chilla, Upma & More: Speedy Indian Breakfast Recipes
6 Min
30/10/20255-Minute Chilla, Upma & More: Speedy Indian Breakfast Recipes
Quick Summary
Not all of us have a breakfast routine as rigid as Sheldon Cooper’s, and honestly, who has the time? Between hitting snooze one too many times and catching that 9:00 AM bus, breakfast often becomes a casualty of the morning rush. But skipping it? Not an option. That’s where this list of speedy Indian breakfast ideas steps in, to fuel your day without eating into your schedule.
Deep Dive
Weekday mornings, especially Mondays, can be tiresome, making the early morning minutes even more precious and hunger unforgiving. Therein comes the herculean mission of eating well without being late. There’s no fixed script, and if you are reading this, then chances are there is no ‘Tuesday is oatmeal day’ kind of order. Meet the desi superheroes, which are delicious and take no more than 5 minutes to make: besan ka chilla, vegetable upma, curd rice and more. Each dish arrives like a scene in a morning action flick, making each of these dishes fast-paced, efficient, and leaving you ready to conquer even the busiest workday.
Vegetable Upma
One of the quickest and easiest breakfast dishes ever, vegetable upma is made with semolina (rava), mustard seeds, curry leaves, ginger, green chillies, and diced carrots, peas, or beans. Toast the rava and cook with the sautéed aromatics and veggies until the water is absorbed. You get complex carbohydrates, fibre, and micronutrients from vegetables for an energy‑boosting start to the day. While rava is commonly used today, the technique of roasting coarse grain for porridge‑like dishes has roots in ancient Indian grain‑preparation traditions.
Besan Chilla
This is the easiest protein-rich and vegan breakfast option made with a batter of gram (chickpea) flour with water, salt, turmeric, green chillies, and chopped onions or spinach. Make this as you would a pancake and cook it on both sides. It’s also known as ‘nachni’ or ‘pudla’, and is known to have originated in the Sindh region (now in Pakistan), which literally means besan pancake’. Consider this to be your vegan omelette, and you can customise it with stuffings of your choice, whether in the batter or inside its folds.
Curd Rice
A summer favourite, leftover cooked rice is mixed with plain yoghurt, salt, and, usually for more flavour, it is tempered with mustard seeds, curry leaves, and hing. Yoghurt brings probiotics, calcium, and protein; rice gives quick energy; the pairing supports digestion and cools the system. Curds-on‑rice dates back to between the 16th and 9th century B.C. and was once a temple food mostly eaten by Brahmins, before spreading across all classes.
Rice Kanji
Another leftover favourite, especially during summer, rice kanji is a southern speciality. The eastern parts of the country have something similar; in Odisha, you get pakhala bhaat and in West Bengal, panta bhaat. But rice kanji has a slightly different preparation method. The cooked rice is fermented in extra water, like the other two rice recipes, then added to a blender the next morning with spices and yoghurt. You can add a South Indian style tempering to add flavour to an otherwise bland dosa. It’s hydrating and gentle on the stomach, ideal for recovery or sensitive digestion.
Stir-Fried Idli
Got leftover idlis from last night or day? Chop those leftover idlis into cubes and sauté with mustard seeds, curry leaves, onions, and green chillies. It’s an efficient way to repurpose bigger idlis into a savoury, protein‑plus‑carb snack. The fermented nature of idlis gives probiotics, while stir‑frying uses minimal oil. This is one of those ‘fridge‑clear’ breakfast items, commonly made when minimal effort is needed, yet it is still tasty and waste‑free. Pack them for your kids’ dabbas or your own if you make extra.
Puliyogare
This is your trusty old tamarind rice, if you don’t mind rice for breakfast. To make puliyogare, mix cooked rice with tamarind paste and a spice mix, tempered with mustard seeds, lentils, peanuts, spices, and jaggery. You get healthy fats, protein and carbs at one go to fuel you through busy mornings. Tamarind rice is not only is it travel‑friendly and long‑lasting, but it has also been offered as temple prasadam for centuries, including inscriptions from Thanjavur temple kitchens dated to around 1010 CE. You can pack it for lunch as well or for long journeys, for its flavour gets better after a few hours.
Rava Dosa
Rave dosa is made from a batter with semolina, rice flour, and maida with water, spices like cumin, ginger, and green chillies. The batter is thin and makes crepe-like dosas on a hot pan. The batter does not need any fermentation, and you get a good energy boost from the carbs, and save a lot of time, for it takes just about 5 minutes to make. Did you know? Rava dosa is believed to have been invented in Udupi-style restaurants as a non‑fermented, faster alternative to traditional dosa when customers were short on time.
Beat The Clock, Not The Batter
You don’t need Sheldon Cooper’s schedule to make sure you don't miss a single breakfast or eat a solid one. Whether it's a leftover idli remix or five-minute rava dosa magic, these Indian staples are proof that fast doesn’t mean soulless. They’re steeped in time and go way back when nutrition was not a hype but a habit. So snooze away without guilt, till the last hours for your breakfast are sorted and have been training for this moment for centuries.
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