Poha is a very popular, quick, Indian breakfast prepared with flattened rice or beaten rice, some Indian herbs & spices, and peanuts.
This quick & easy breakfast is eaten in many regions of India, so there are various ways to prepare it. There are so many varieties of poha like Kanda poha, Kanda batata poha, Vegetable poha, Dadpe poha, Curd poha, and many more. Among these Vegetable poha and Curd poha is my personal favorite.
What is Poha?
The word “Poha” refers to the flattened rice itself as well as the dish made with it.
Poha is also known as chuda or chura (in Bihar), chira (in Bengal) avalakki (in Karnataka), aval (in Tamil), atukulu (in Telugu) and pauwa in Hindi.
So flattened rice is widely used across India to prepare various dishes like chivda, upma, vada, dosa, idli, fryums, Indori poha from Indore is very famous all over India, dahi chura (curd poha), and many more, dahi chura is very popular in Bihar, especially during the Makar Sankranti festival. Poha or flattened rice can be eaten raw with mixing jaggery, this is quite famous in Bihar.
Poha is eaten as breakfast, snacks, or any time whenever we want to eat something tasty, filling as well as which is quick & easy to make. It can also be packed for school and office lunch box.
Poha doesn’t require any accompaniment, but it is usually topped and garnished with sev, fresh coconut, raw onion, and a few drops of lemon juice.
Here I have shared 2 quick and easy ways to make poha.
How to make Kanda Poha:
The word “Kanda” means onion and “poha” is flattened or beaten rice. It is very famous in Maharashtra.
Kanda Poha basically prepared with flattened or beaten rice, onion, a few Indian spices & herbs, and some lemon juice.
Here are the ingredients of Kanda Poha Recipe.
Ingredients:
- Flattened or Beaten rice- 1.5 cups (Use medium thick poha)
- Onion- 1 medium size (finely chopped)
- Peanuts- 1/4 cup or 3-4 tbsps
- Green chilli- 2-3 (finely chopped)
- Ginger- 1 inch (finely chopped or grated)
- Curry leaves- 8-10
- Turmeric powder- 1/3 tsp
- Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
- Sugar- 1 tsp
- Salt- according to your taste
- Oil- 1.5 tbsp (Use peanut or sunflower oil or any flavor less oil in this recipe)
- 1/2 lemon
- Coriander leaves- 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
For Garnishing:
- Fresh coconut- 2-3 tbsp (grated)
- raw onion- 2-3 tsp (finely chopped)
- Sev namkeen- 1-2 tbsp
- Some finely chopped coriander leaves
- Few drops of lemon juice, as per your taste
Instructions:
- First in a big bowl take poha, do not take thin poha as it becomes mushy as soon as you add water.
- Rinse in water & drain off water.
- Add turmeric powder, salt and sugar, mix gently with a spoon or use your hand.
- Keep aside for 7-8 minutes.
- Heat a pan (Use non-stick pan or greased pan).
- Heat 1.5 tablespoon of oil.
- First fry peanuts in hot oil until they turns crunchy on low medium flame, take out and keep aside.
- In the same oil, add 1 tsp of mustard seeds and few curry leaves, let them splutter.
- Now add finely chopped onions, saute them until they become translucent.
- Add chopped green chilies and ginger, saute them for few seconds (curry leaves can also be added at this stage to avoid splashing of oil).
- Add soaked poha and mix gently without making the poha mushy.
- Cover it and cook it for 2-3 minutes on low medium flame
- Switch off the flame and let the poha remain covered for 1-2 minute.
- Remove cover, add fried peanuts, 1 tbsps chopped coriander and 1/2 lemon, mix everything gently.
- Finally Kanda Poha is ready to serve.
- You can garnish or topped it with some grated fresh coconut, sev namkeen or some chopped raw onion.
- Serve hot with a cup of strong ginger tea or a cup of coffee.
Tips:
- Always use medium thick poha in this recipe, as thin poha becomes mushy as soon as you add water and thick poha takes more time to turn soft.
- You can use strainer to rinse them. Avoid over rinsing the poha. Do not soak in water.
- Vegetables like green peas, finely chopped cabbage, chopped cauliflower, carrot, french beans and tomatoes can be added to this dish to make it more healthy and nutritious. You can add any vegetable in this recipe according to your choice.
- Poha is generally garnished or topped with fresh grated coconut, sev namkeen or raw chopped onion. It tastes pretty much delicious with few drops of lemon juice alone.
- Adding fresh chopped coriander gives freshness as well as a great flavor of coriander to the dish.
- Leftover Poha can be used for making Poha vada.
How to Make Dadpe Pohe:
Dadpe Pohe Recipe is a delicious Maharashtrian evening snack prepared with flattened rice, onion, tomato, lemon juice, green chili, salt and green coriander.
In this recipe flattened rice or poha is not rinsed and cooked, it is mixed with onion, tomatoes, grated carrot, and lemon juice and it turns soft with the juices released from the veggies.
Traditionally coconut water is used to soften the pohe but you can sprinkle some plain water instead of, to soften the poha.
The poha is finally finished with flavorful tempering. Medium thin poha is best for this recipe, do not use too thin poha.
Thinner poha stick up or clamp up as soon as they absorb the juice of veggies and too thick poha won’t soften quickly.
Here are the ingredients of this recipe
Ingredients:
- Flattened rice- 1.5 cup
- Onion- 1 medium size (finely chopped)
- Tomato- 1 (finely chopped)
- Carrot- 1 small (grated)
- Coriander- 1 tablespoon (finely chopped)
- Fresh coconut- 2 tablespoon (grated)
- Sev- 2 tablespoon (thin)
- Lemon juice- 1 tablespoon
- Coconut water or plain water (if needed)
- Sugar- 1 teaspoon
- Salt- as per taste
For Tempering:
- Peanuts- 2 tablespoons
- Curry leaves- 8-10
- Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
- Green chili- 2 (finely chopped)
- Asafoetida- 1 pinch
- Oil- 1 tablespoon
For Garnishing:
- Chopped coriander
- Sev namkeen
- Fresh grated coconut
- Grated carrot
- Chopped onion
- Chopped tomatoes
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Instructions:
- Firstly we need to sieve the poha to separates powdery stuff from it.
- Add poha in a large bowl.
- Add chopped onions, tomatoes, grated coconut, grated carrot, lemon juice, sev namkeen, sugar, salt and chopped coriander leaves, mix all the ingredients well.
- Cover it and keep aside for 5-10 minutes or until the poha become soft.
- After 5-10 minutes check it, if you feel poha is steel dry, then sprinkle some coconut water or plain water, mix well. But take care not to add more water else it becomes mushy.
- At this stage you can taste salt and sugar and lemon juice, and add more salt, sugar and lemon juice if needed.
For Tempering:
- Heat oil in a tadka pan, add asafoetida, mustard seeds, let it splutter.
- Add curry leaves, splutter them
- Add chopped green chilies and raw peanuts, roast peanuts until they turns crunchy.
- Add this tempering to the poha and mix well gently.
- Delicious Dadpe Pohe Recipe is ready to serve.
- Garnish it with some chopped coriander, grated fresh coconut, sev namkeen, chopped onion, tomatoes, and grated carrot.
- Dadpe Pohe Recipe is served as breakfast or as evening snacks with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
Tips:
- Do use medium thin poha, as too thin poha becomes mushy as soon as they absorb juices of veggies.
- Sprinkle coconut water or plain water only when you feel poha is dry.
- Sometimes you can add finely chopped cucumber, pomegranates or roasted cashew nuts instead of regular garnishing or toppings.
- You can skip sugar, if you don’t like slightly sweet taste of the dish.
- You can add 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder to give a nice yellow colour to the Dadpe Poha Recipe.
- You can add some pomegranate seeds for garnishing, which enhances the taste as well as the appearance. I like to add it sometimes, but you can skip if you don’t like pomegranate.
- This dish is kids friendly if you reduce or skip the green chilies.
Calories and nutrition in poha
| Poha Nutrition 100 grams | Values (approx. values) |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Carbs | 27 g |
| Fat | 1.5 g |
| Fiber | 1 g |
| Total Calories | ~130 calories |