Poha is what aval Upma is called in the west. And yes! The ingredients is a tad more sexy!
Onions, potatoes, fried groundnuts… topped with the evil aloo bhujia. Am thankful that this hasn’t fallen prey to the hands of melted-mozzeralization, like most of our chaats have turned out!( 😏)
Poha is actually very versatile. I try to make it in a lot of ways keeping just one thing in mind – I don’t fry it much. Poha is one of the healthiest ways of consuming rice.
Try this:
Soak 1 cup of Black Chana over night, drain water and pressure cook with a lot of water, turmeric, salt, one bayleaf, a couple of cloves and some ginger.
Open cooker and drain out the water. Save this water.
Take 2 cups of flat poha (aval) and soak it in just enough of the Chana water (above). Remember, too much water will turn it into a mush. So add water carefully. It can soak for an hour.
In a pan, add a table spoon of any oil, drop in a teaspoon full of mustard and half a teaspoon full of Jeera.
After it splatters, add a couple of teaspoons fulls of chanadal and /or broken cashew.
Once it is golden, drop in finely chopped onions (one large), fry till translucent. Then, drop in the cooked kalachana, some grated coconut, some turmeric, and one chopped green chilly.
After a toss, add the soaked poha and give it a mix. Switch off the stove, add another few teaspoons of ghee or oil, and squeeze half a lemon to it.
You can add some coriander leaves or curry leaves to it if you like. And that’s it!
Maya - Craving to Cook 