Aloo Poha

Aloo poha is a great favourite in our household, and gets cooked often for breakfast, sometimes even for lunch and dinner. I have grown up on aloo poha, but the OH got introduced to it only on one of his trips to Ahmedabad after marriage. It was love at first bite for the OH. 🙂

There are a lot of variations in cooking aloo poha, as many as there are households in India. I love the way it is traditionally made in Gujarat, the way we learnt to make it from some of our neighbours, and that is how I make it till date.

Here is the recipe that I use:

Ingredients (for 2 people):

About 2 glasses of beaten rice (poha) – I use the Bhagyalakshmi brand; other brands have not given satisfactory results.

Salt to taste

Sugar to taste

Lemon juice to taste

Turmeric powder to taste

2 green chillies (finely chopped)

A small bunch of fresh coriander leaves (finely chopped)

2 teaspoons oil

A pinch of asafoetida

1 teaspoon cumin (jeera)

1 teaspoon mustard

2 medium-sized potatoes (peeled and chopped into small cubes)

1 medium-sized tomato – finely chopped (optional)

1 medium-sized onion – finely chopped (optional)

Method:

1. Heat in the oil in a pan, and add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the cumin. After it turns brown, add the chopped potatoes to the pan, with a little salt, turmeric powder and sugar. Add a bit of water, cover the pan, and cook the potatoes till they get soft.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, run some cold water through the poha and wash it. Do not soak it, just wash it. Let the excess water drain out by placing the wet poha in a colander.

3. When the excess water from the poha has drained out, add salt, sugar and turmeric powder to taste to it. Mix well with your hands, but not too much, otherwise the poha will turn soggy.

4. The potatoes would have been cooked by now. Reduce the flame on the gas, and add the poha to the pan. Add the green chillies and lemon juice and mix well for about 2 minutes, till everything is nicely incorporated. Check and adjust spices or sugar if required.

5. Add the chopped onions and tomatoes (if using) and mix well. Cook for about 2-3 more minutes.

6. Take off heat. Garnish the poha with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

Note: Sometimes, I also add some pomegranate seeds and omapudi (sev) on the poha. That tastes yummylicious, too!

How do you make this dish?