Poha - a lesser known breakfast delicacy

Poha is a simple and quick breakfast dish which you can whip up in under 15 minutes. That is why it is one of the most favored breakfast recipe in my kitchen.

I always considered Poha to be a South Indian dish since a room mate of mine from Shimoga, a place in Karnataka often made it for breakfast. This notion changed on a short trip to Indore for a recruitment event. We were served Poha in the hotel for breakfast, as a snack in the college between the interviews and we even saw people relishing Poha at Chappan - a popular food bazaar  during the evening.  The Poha, I tasted at Indore was sweeter than the version I had down south which is why I try to bring in a little sweetness to the version from my kitchen.

It is a lesser known dish to the Keralites. My husband had never even heard of it, till I cooked it for him the first time. This dish is a miracle breakfast recipe as far as I am concerned and  a lot better than the normal bread - jam/peanut butter or upma routine on working day mornings. My husband loves this dish and it is his suggestion that I put this recipe down here for more of you to experiment.

Ingredients

Beaten rice/ Flattened rice - 2 cups

Onion - 1 medium sized chopped

Potato - 1 medium sized chopped

Green Chilly - 2 to 3 slit

Peanuts - a handful ( you can increase or reduce as per your taste, I love peanuts hence love more of it in my food)

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaf - 1 sprig

Lemon juice - 3 tsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

Coriander leaf to garnish

Salt as per taste

Oil

Method

Heat oil in a skillet. Fry the peanuts and keep aside. Then fry the chopped potato (chop finely) for about 2 minutes ( just begins to change color) and drain off excess oil.

Toss in the chopped onions and saute it till translucent. Add the green chilly and curry leaf, saute it for a while. Add the desired amount of salt and 1 tsp sugar mix it well and toss in the  potato at this stage. Add turmeric powder and saute for another 2 minutes on low flame.

Pour water into the beaten rice just for it to get wet and drain off immediately.  Toss this into the skillet and fold it together till the beaten rice gets the color of the turmeric.

Keep this covered for 4 minutes on low flame. Add the lemon juice and the fried peanuts. Mix it well and serve with garnish of fresh finely chopped coriander leaves.

I do hope that you all try this simple recipe and trust me you will love it!

You may also note -

1. Once you pour water into the beaten rice, drain off immediately. Else your poha would turn out to be extremely soggy.
2. Once cooked, serve it hot or keep it covered so that the steam keeps it warm. Leaving the poha open could cause it be dry and sometimes a little too chewy.
3. In case, you have excess poha and you store it for later. Make sure that you heat it with a little water sprinkled on it when you take it out of the fridge.