Poha
Flattened rice rinsed rather than soaked, then warmed through with mustard seeds, onion and turmeric. Ten minutes from start to plate.
- Prep
- 10m
- Cook
- 10m
- Total
- 20m
- Serves
- 3
- Effort
- Easy
Scale
Units
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 2 tbsp | Temper until the mustard seeds pop 3m | Cook until the potato is tender 8m | Fold the poha through, cover and steam 3 minutes 4m Fold, do not stir hard. The flakes break up easily once wet. | |
| 1 tsp | ||||
| a sprig | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 1/4 cup | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 2 cups | Rinse in a colander until just softened, then drain 5 minutes 6m Rinse under running water — never soak. Soaked poha turns to paste. | |||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||
| 1 tbsp | ||||
| a handful | ||||
| to serve | ||||
-
Temper until the mustard seeds pop
3m- neutral oil 2 tbsp
- mustard seeds 1 tsp
- curry leaves a sprig
- green chillies 2
- peanuts 1/4 cup
-
Cook until the potato is tender
8m- from 1 Temper until the mustard seeds pop
- onion 1
- potato 1
- ground turmeric 1/2 tsp
- salt 1 tsp
-
Rinse in a colander until just softened, then drain 5 minutes
6m- thick poha 2 cups
- caster sugar 1 tsp
- salt 1/2 tsp
Rinse under running water — never soak. Soaked poha turns to paste.
-
Fold the poha through, cover and steam 3 minutes
4m- from 2 Cook until the potato is tender
- from 3 Rinse in a colander until just softened, then drain 5 minutes
- lemon juice 1 tbsp
- coriander leaves a handful
- sev (optional) to serve
Fold, do not stir hard. The flakes break up easily once wet.
Rinse, never soak
Poha is rice that has been parboiled, rolled flat and dried, so it rehydrates almost instantly. Thirty seconds under a running tap is enough; five minutes in a bowl of water and the flakes dissolve. Draining for a few minutes afterwards lets them finish softening on residual moisture alone.
Notes
- Thick poha, not thin. Thin poha is for chivda and disintegrates here.
- The teaspoon of sugar is not optional in most versions — it balances the lemon and the salt.
- Peanuts fried in the tempering give the one crunchy element in an otherwise soft dish.