Indian cooking 101: Poha

Each Indian family makes Poha the same yet different way. It is one of those everyday Indian breakfast dishes that I usually wouldn’t even think of writing a recipe out for. You just know how to make it.

I didn’t cook a lot up until a few years back. When I did start to cook, it didn’t take me long to pick up how to cook Poha. Hopefully, it won’t take you that long to pick it up either.

Poha

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 cups Thick Poha (Available at most Indian grocery stores. I get mine from Gill’s Supermarket)

1/2 chopped red onion

1/2 chopped tomato

1 cup frozen carrots and peas

1/2 potato, peeled and chopped into 1″ pieces

Chopped cilantro

Ginger paste

1 tsp cumin seeds (Jeera)

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder (Haldi)

A few drops of lemon juice

Salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

Method

1. Wash the thick poha to remove some of the starch. Drain and set aside. The poha can be damp when you cook it but shouldn’t drip.
2. Heat the oil in a pan. When the oil heats up, add the cumin seeds till they crackle. Grate the ginger into the pan and cook for half a minute or so. Cover pan if the ginger starts to splutter.
3. Add the potatoes and a pinch of salt. Shallow fry the potatoes for a few minutes till cooked.
4. Add the onions and cook for a minute till it changes colour.
5. Add the tomatoes, carrots, and peas and cook for a couple of minutes.
6. Add the poha to the veggies and mix.
7. Add the salt, lemon juice turmeric, and red chilli powder and mix well. Cook for about two minutes while mixing occasionally so the food doesn’t stick to the pan.
8. Top with chopped onion and cilantro and serve.

 

 

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