Central India is most famous for this everyday snack
While I was studying at Indian Institute of Management Indore, we used to have a place called Poha point where we used to go to have Poha and chai after the evening classes. I liked the chai best at Poha point on campus. Traditionally, poha is a very common recipe found everywhere in and around Madhya Pradesh from dabbas to restaurants. My first time tasting poha was in a dabba on my way to Omkareshwar, a temple near Indore where the person had made poha and served it by sprinkling some onion and sev over it along with chai. Poha is a snack easily made at home, eaten by people across different age groups, locals and tourists alike love to try out the local special dish. It is a very cheap and easy to make recipe.
THE MAIN INGREDIENTS
The following are the main ingredients to make Poha:-
- Beaten rice
- Lemon
- Ginger
- Red Chilli
- 1 tablespoon Cashews
- 1 tablespoon Peanuts
- Coriander leaves
- Curry Leaves
- Brown Sugar
HOW TO MAKE POHA RECIPE:
- Soak the poha in water for about 10 minutes. If you are using white beaten rice, then you may wash the poha in running water till it gets moist and soft. As red beaten rice takes more time, we are soaking it. Once they are half soaked, spread it out and dry them like shown in the picture below.
- Pour some ghee, add cumin, mustard, ginger, red chillies, asafoetida, peanuts and cashew nuts and saute them.
- Once the nuts turn slightly brownish, add onion, a pinch of turmeric and quarter teaspoon of salt and stir well. Cook till the onion turns soft and brownish.
- Add a quarter teaspoon of sugar and squeeze half a lemon towards the end in sim flame. Add the soaked poha and stir well. Add coriander leaves and curry leaves as per your choice for additional flavour and their health benefits.
- Poha is always well served with sev. You may also add onions for the crunchies and the additional flavour that it provides.
Poha is a snack of the people but can also be served as breakfast or dinner. The crunchiness of the sev, cashews and peanuts along with the softness of the beaten rice and flavour of lemon, sugar, salt and chilly are blended well to give it a distinct taste. The blandness of the beatness rice is overpowered by the flavours added to empower it.
Poha could be a snack that can be had with friends as we stand discussing classes, life and relationships. Poha could be a snack which we have with family to break our fast on a full moon day as what it is called in tamil “Nilasoru” meaning having a meal while the full moon is out looking at the full moon. This is how mothers used to feed their children and still do to this date. This is a joyous occasion that I have gotten to experience with my family and I would encourage you all to make Poha and experience it for yourselves.