What comes to your mind when you think of Indian breakfast items… steamy Puttu and fiery Kadala curry or fluffy Appams and warm Stew or crispy Dosas with garama garam Sambar? Did I make you hungry yet, if so, mission accomplished ;) Ok, now I'll tell you my choice… it has to be Appam and Stew. I'm a bit ashamed to say this… my knowledge about Indian breakfast is very much limited to Kerala breakfast items and dishes like dosa, kesari bath etc; I'm familiar with the South Indian breakfast fare, but rest of India, I only have a vague idea.
Poha which we call Aval is mostly a tea time snack in Kerala. But the thing is we use brown Aval usually. I've seen Poha recipes in some blogs, but never tasted it. So when I tasted this at our friend's place, it was a pleasant surprise for me! I've always associated Aval with sweet dishes. We both, Jose and myself, enjoyed this savoury avatar of Aval and so I got the recipe from Kshama, our friend. She told me it's a Maharashtrian breakfast dish.
Finally I tried the recipe last weekend. Since I was still on my India trip hangover, I wanted to have Indian breakfast but at the same time I wasn't in a mood to cook something elaborate. That reminds me.. did I tell you, I was in India for almost a month? My Appa fractured his leg and is homebound for sometime. I thought I'll give him some company. In my brother's words “Appa needs somebody to chorify (bug/irritate) and you are the right person for that” :) So I packed my bags and landed there. Anyways, Appa is doing ok and I do hope he recovers fast.
So what where we saying… yeah Indian breakfast, so this recipe came in handy. You know what I like most about this dish, you dont need any side dishes to go with it, unlike our Kerala breakfast items :)
Thank you Kshama for introducing this wonderful dish to us! Btw, did you notice the Silver bowl in the pic? That was gifted to me, by Jose's parents this time specially for taking pics :)
Now, shall we go and make this simple yet beautiful dish?
Here you go with the step by step pictures…
Soak the poha in water for a minute and drain well. Add salt and 1 tsp of sugar to poha and mix well. Keep it aside…
Heat oil in a pan and crackle mustard seeds. Add peanuts/cashews and fry for 1-2 mins. Add chopped onion, green chilli and asafoteida. Cook for 2 mins and and add cubed potatoes…
Once the potatoes are cooked, add green peas, turmeric powder, salt, lemon juice and sugar. Mix well. Add grated coconut and cook for a min or two…
Add poha and mix well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves…
Aloo Poha
Ingredients
- 2 cups Poha (white rice flakes/ vella aval)
- 1 med – large Onion (chopped)
- 2-3 Green chilli (chopped)
- 1/2 cup Green peas (I used frozen)
- 1 medium Potato (cut into small cubes)
- 1/3 cup Coconut (optional)
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- A small pinch Asafoetida (kayam)
- 1 tbsp Peanuts / cashews (optional)
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- Oil
- Salt
- Curry leaves
- Coriander leaves (for garnishing)
Instructions
- Soak the poha in water for a minute and drain well. Add salt and 1 tsp of sugar to poha and mix well. Keep it aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and crackle mustard seeds. Add peanuts/cashews and fry for 1-2 mins. Add chopped onion, green chilli and asafoetida . Cook for 2 mins and and add cubed potatoes. Cover and cook till the potatoes are done. Make sure you stir it in between, otherwise it may stick to the bottom. Do not add water to cook potatoes (refer notes).
- Once the potatoes are cooked, add green peas, turmeric powder, salt, lemon juice and 1 tsp sugar. Mix well. Add grated coconut and cook for a min or two.
- Add poha and mix well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Notes
I am from Mumbai and am currently drooling seeing this! When we were kids our neighbours used to make this and we forced our nadan amma to learn how to make this. She did, however till date its my younger brother who makes the best poha in the world. Its also a street side food and they also make samosa’s stuffed with this poha. Its called kandha batatachi pohe in marathi but they dont add cashews/peas and mustard seeds in the recipie I have. Guess they make it differently in different regions. LOve it! I miss poha and amma’s kappi to wash it down with!
Hi Sheryn,
Your comment reminded me of a scene from the movie, Wake up Sid. In that scene, Ranbir Kapoor’s neigbour is giving him some poha ;)
Btw, good to know that this post brought you good memories.
Cheers
Maria
hi maria darling…. tried this one and it was sooo good.. all of us loved it.. u r really a” darling”.. recommended ur chicken biriyani recipe to a friend and she was thanking me…:)… do u know whtz my dream nw..? ..To live in ur apartment rt opposite to u happily ever after…:)..wow that would be amaaazing..(so that.i can taste everything u make.)..
Hi Sumi,
Thank you very much dear. Thanks for recommending my site also.
I do hope your dream come true sometime, pakshe ente food kazhichu kazhinjittum same abiprayam parayanam ;)
Cheers
Maria
Hi Sumi,
Thank you very much dear. Thanks for recommending my site also.
I do hope your dream come true sometime, pakshe ente food kazhichu kazhinjittum same abiprayam parayanam ;)
Cheers
Maria
heyyy maria….over 11000 people have grt opinion abt ur cooking… ennittum mariyakku swantham cookingil vishwasam pora allae…… :)
heyyy maria….over 11000 people have grt opinion abt ur cooking… ennittum mariyakku swantham cookingil vishwasam pora allae…… :)
heyyy maria….over 11000 people have grt opinion abt ur cooking… ennittum mariyakku swantham cookingil vishwasam pora allae…… :)
enikku enne ottum vishwasam ella ;)
enikku enne ottum vishwasam ella ;)
hi maria darling…. tried this one and it was sooo good.. all of us loved it.. u r really a” darling”.. recommended ur chicken biriyani recipe to a friend and she was thanking me…:)… do u know whtz my dream nw..? ..To live in ur apartment rt opposite to u happily ever after…:)..wow that would be amaaazing..(so that.i can taste everything u make.)..
Good stuff Maria.. :) This is the first of your recipes that I’ve tried and (I have) passed with flying colours!
Thanks a bunch Mary! I’m glad that you passed in flying colours :) Please do try other recipes too when time permits.
Cheers
Maria
Good stuff Maria.. :) This is the first of your recipes that I’ve tried and (I have) passed with flying colours!
Thanks Smitha! It’s same with us too… I’ve one more option now for breakfast :)
Cheers
Maria
Hi Deepthi,
Nice to hear from you :) It was a new dish to me and I liked it’s simple flavours.
Best wishes for your effort :)
Cheers
Maria
Hi Maria,Good to c that u r preparing some maharashtrian recipie.this is our Saturday breakfast most days.(hubby is maharashtrian).it looks yummy.they donot add cashew nuts or peanuts and green peas in its typical version in a normal household.but I think some may add for some variety.looking forward to see more maharashtrian recipes .so I get a chance to try.
Thank you ver y much for this .
Love
Nisha
Hi Nisha,
I got this recipe from one of my neighbors who is from Pune. My knowledge about Maharashtrian food is almost zero!
Whenever I get some good recipes from her, I’ll try to share it here also :)
Cheers
Maria
Poha is of two types, thick and thin. We have to use the thick variety to make this recipe.