Poha: Indian Breakfast Rice
India is an incredible country full of flavors and colors. In this travel, one of my main objectives was to explore the local culture and customs, including food of course, and I cannot express how excited I was!!
I couldn’t resist the loud street food stalls, the colorful markets and the overwhelming diversity of smells and tastes.
One of the best part is that there are many options for gluten-intolerant and celiacs, so I want to share some of the recipes that I learned during some cooking sessions and dinners with local hosts.
Take Poha for example, it totally brightened my breakfasts - luckily I had an amazing alternative to toast and cereals! I never tried it before, but it tastes incredibly and it's naturally gluten-free, I couldn't help but sharing it in the blog!
Ingredients (makes 4)
- 250 gr flattened rice flakes (poha or powa)
- 2 tbsp yogurt
- 1 big potato (cut in little cubes)
- 4 tbsp peanuts
- 1 onion
- 1 lemon
- 10 curry leaves
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- Spices: 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp chili power, 1 green chili
- Salt to taste, sev (gram flour noodles) to garnish
- Sunflower oil
- Start by preparing the seasoning for the rice: heat 2 tbsp of sunflower oil in a wok or pan. Add the mustard seeds and cook them for a couple of minutes, until they pop. Stir in the other ingredients: the onion, potato cubes peanuts, curry leaves, chilies. Mix and cook with the lid on for 15 minutes.
- Wash the rice flakes in a sieve over water, and then place them in a bowl with the yogurt. Let it rest for 5 minutes or so.
- When the potato mi is ready, add the other spices: turmeric poweder, chili and salt (1 tsp). Stir with a wooden spoon and add the rice flakes. Mix well until the color is uniform. Cook for 2 more minutes and add the juice of half a lemon at last.
- Serve while still hot, with sev garnishing and with some extra lemon if you prefer!
TIPS: I tried to make some extra Poha for a few breakfasts in a row and it works perfectly! You can preserve Poha in the fridge even for 5 days.
Have you tried it? Do you have any suggestions? Leave your comment!
