Easy and filling snack or meal: Poha
Poha are dehusked flattened rice. They are very popular in India as they are easy to use and transform into a delicious dish. This is a good snack to take out if you are on your travels and can keep for a few days in the fridge. You can buy a bag of Poha at any good Indian grocery store and they normally come in 500g bags.
I made the above dish recently when we were busy packing and needed some comfort food to keep us going.
Ingredients
Feeds 3 for a meal or more for a light snack
For the Vaghar:
- 2 tbsp of oil (sunflower or canola)
- 1/4 tsp hing
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
and the rest….
- 200g of Poha
- 2 large potatoes: peeled and cubed (1.5cm)
- 1 tsp of fresh masala (or more if you like it spicy)
- 2 1/2 tsp of ground coriander and cumin (1 part cumin to 2 parts coriander)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt ( alter to taste)
- Hot water from kettle
Method
- Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan or saucepan
- Once oil is hot add the mustard seeds and cover the pan with a lid – once they have popped remove pan from the heat
- Add the hing
- Return the pan to a medium heat – add the potatoes and spices, mixing so the potatoes are covered (see fig 1)
- Now you need to add water so there is actually some liquid in the dish
- Add about a cup of hot water so the potatoes are nearly covered (see fig 2)
- While the potatoes are cooking put the Poha in a colander
- Cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes on a low to medium heat so that they are cooked through – add more water if required (the liquid consistency will be needed later)
- When the potatoes are nearly ready rinse the Poha with cold water – just run the cold water tap and rinse them in the colander
- Then add the Poha to the potatoes mix through and cook on a low heat – they will absorb all of the water
- Add more water if required – the Poha should disappear into the dish
- Cook the dish for a few more minutes
You can eat this on it own, I made a thin dahl to go with it…….
fig 1. potatoes
fig 2. potatoes with water
fig 3. poha
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