I am feeling sad. Winter seems to be going. We had a warm weekend and being in the kitchen wasn’t really comfortable. 🙁 We have had only one big rain this whole season and that is disheartening enough. Let’s hope there will be some rains before the summers officially start. Otherwise, the weekend was good. We dropped in to see HD’s local friend’s new born at the hospital. Their hospitality is amazing – they broke my diet royally by offering me too many sweets and also sending us off with a humongous box of chocolate that I have hidden in the fridge so that the girls don’t binge eat! Yesterday, we did a simple mall trot along with some grocery and then at night, I had to struggle to finish off my tasks for the day – always happens!
My idea of eating poha – called aval in Malayalam, which is beaten rice flakes, is always sweet, like I have had all my life! Just like this avalum pazhavum or in “kuzhacha” condition… I saw this first time on my bestie’s IG account when she shared a hashtag also mentioning that it is vegan. I looked at the picture again, and I was thinking, “Ethu nammade avalaanallo!” (This seems to be our aval!) But it did take me time to digest that aval could actually be used to make something savory! I guess it’s more of the conditioning than anything else, right? 🙂
So as usual, I got googling and made a mishmash of a recipe which worked with what I had in my pantry and my taste buds too. Aloo Poha seems to be a very popular breakfast in Maharashtra, and is also called Batata Poha in Gujarat, with slight variations in the preparation.
The plus point of this meal is that it can be had at any time – breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner! It’s very light on the tummy and if you love potatoes, then that’s a good add-on here. It comes together so quick too. I cut the potatoes into small cubes and soak them up in boiling water, so when it comes to the time of cooking it, I drain it and drop it in. It seems to save a lot of time by cooking the potatoes pretty fast. I have a family who prefer over cooked potatoes, so doing this really helps, I will anyway end up with well cooked ones. 😀
Another point is the poha used to make this. It is best to use the thick one. Usually we keep stock of the thin ones, which taste really good with the way we make it, but I can’t use that here, since it would crumble up when soaked. It so happened that I had a packet of really thick poha I got from the supermarket close to me, and I didn’t want to throw it away. The idea of making this came to my rescue! 😀 You can use the white or brown one, though I feel white tastes better in this dish, otherwise I love my brown aval. 🙂 Off to this simple recipe…
Aloo Poha | Batata Poha
Ingredients
- 1 cup thick poha
- Salt to taste
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp urad dal
- 2 green chillies chopped
- 1 potato chopped into small peices
- 1 onion minced
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- Juice of one lime
- Coriander leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Wash the poha well till it gets clean. Keep it to drain in a colander.
- When it looks dry, add in the sugar and salt and give it a good toss.
- In a saucepan, heat oil. Splutter the mustard seeds and briefly fry the urad dal.
- Add in the onion and little salt and cook till wilted.
- Add in the chopped potatoes and turmeric, and saute for a few minutes. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally till the potato looks cooked and crispy.
- Add in the poha and give it a good toss. Cook on simmer for a couple of minutes.
- Adjust the salt and squeeze in the lime juice. Serve hot with a cup of chai.
Notes
You can splutter cumin too if you like the flavor, sometimes I do.
Cut the potatoes as tiny as possible so that it cooks faster and evenly.
Use thick type of poha for this. The thin one will break and end up powdery.
Have never had or seen beaten rice flakes here…are them same as roll oats? This looks like a healthy and filling side dish.
It’s different from oats, it’s a derivative of rice and is thin, looks similar to oats though… Thank you so much Angie…
I see beaten rice at the shops here in Nepal all the time. So that’s how you use it! Looks delish!
This is just one recipe! I am trying to find other ways to use my stock up rather than have it sweet all the time… hehe… thanks a lot Maizoon…
looks perfect.. one of my weekend breakfast / brunch! I had list of things to do in this long weekend but very little done.. Not sure how the time went by
Thank you so much Veena…
I thoought your summer starts end of March. Sad to hear you didnt get much rain. We are having scorching hot sun these days, february march is always blistering hot. This looks like a nice little snack even. We call the smashed up rice Aveli. Its funny how the languages some how have some connection right .
Yes, it is supposed to… it’s now getting to lower temperatures again, too much fluctuation in the temperature actually… Good to know that it sounds similar in your place… Thanks a lot Nammi…
I always had my aval as my snack ,like you said the sweet version.This does look delicious!
Thank you so much Ruxana…
Poha is one of my favorite breakfast items!! We sometimes pair it with a teaspoon of strawberry jam ( we found the combination by chance) Its a funny story and I have mentioned it on my blog when I posted Poha recipe.
I make it quite differently from the recipe you mentioned and I would never ever make it without peanuts ( same with lemon rice) They are stars for me!
Thank you so much Ria… Peanuts are never in my pantry, so I simply skipped it… I am sure it would taste delicious…
The humble poha is always a favorite! Although I always add peanuts to it. The crunch makes it more tasty!
Thank you so much Beulah…
‘Avalum Pazhavum’….Its been a while I made aval. I learnt the combo from my husband and I love it. The savory version of aval, the so called Poha is such an easy meal. I loved the potato version!
Thank you so much Shibi…
I love aloo poha anytime.. You should try that in the hotels in Maharashtra.. Tastes great 🙂
If I do visit Maharashtra some day, then I will surely will! Thanks a lot Chitra… 🙂