Poha
One of the best-loved breakfasts of western and central India — in Indore and Mumbai it is sold every morning from street stalls. The base is flattened rice flakes, which need no cooking — a few seconds' rinse is enough. And that is the whole difficulty: soaked too long the flakes turn to glue, too briefly they stay hard. They must soften while every flake stays separate.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Chopping and rinsing 7 min
- Tadka with onion 14 min
- Combining 4 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneRinse the flakes and leave them in the sieve
Tip the flakes into a sieve and rinse under running water for 15 seconds, moving them with your fingers, until softened at the edges. Leave in the sieve 5 minutes — they finish softening in the residual moisture. Never soak them in a bowl.
Ingredients: 200 g poha rice flakes · ½ tsp turmeric · 1 tsp sugar · 1 tsp salt
Fifteen seconds under the tap — then they finish alone.Season the flakes in the sieve
Sprinkle the damp flakes with the turmeric, salt and sugar and toss gently with your fingers. Seasoned now, they take colour and flavour evenly; spices added in the pan stay as patches.
Ingredients: 200 g poha rice flakes · ½ tsp turmeric · 1 tsp sugar · 1 tsp salt
Roast the peanuts in oil
Heat the oil and fry the peanuts 3 minutes until golden, then lift them out with a slotted spoon. The oil takes on their nutty aroma, and the tadka is made in it.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp oil · 50 g peanuts · 1 tsp black mustard seeds · ½ tsp cumin · 12 pcs curry leaves · 2 pcs green chillies · 1 pcs onion · 1 pcs potato
Heat the mustard seeds until they pop
In the same oil add the mustard and cumin seeds and wait until the mustard jumps (usually well under a minute), then add the curry leaves and chilli for 10 seconds. Mustard seed that has not popped is bitter and hard.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp oil · 50 g peanuts · 1 tsp black mustard seeds · ½ tsp cumin · 12 pcs curry leaves · 2 pcs green chillies · 1 pcs onion · 1 pcs potato
The mustard must pop — only then the curry leaves.Fry the potato and soften the onion
Add the potato cut into small dice (5–7 mm) and fry covered for 5 minutes, stirring now and then. Add the onion and fry another 4–5 minutes, until the onion is glassy and the potato tender. Without potato, 4–5 minutes for the onion alone is enough. The onion should stay pale and sweet — browned, it overwhelms the delicate rice.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp oil · 50 g peanuts · 1 tsp black mustard seeds · ½ tsp cumin · 12 pcs curry leaves · 2 pcs green chillies · 1 pcs onion · 1 pcs potato
Fold in the flakes gently
Add the flakes and fold gently from underneath with a spatula for 2 minutes, until heated through and evenly yellow. Vigorous stirring breaks the flakes into mush. Cover for a minute to let them steam.
Ingredients: 200 g poha rice flakes · ½ tsp turmeric · 1 tsp sugar · 1 tsp salt
From underneath, gently — stirred hard they break up.Return the peanuts and add lime
Stir in the roasted peanuts and squeeze over half the lime off the heat. The acidity must be clear — poha without lime tastes dull. Cut the other half into wedges to serve.
Ingredients: 1 pcs lime · 4 tbsp coriander · 2 tbsp grated coconut
Scatter with coriander and serve at once
Scatter generously with coriander and coconut and serve immediately with a lime wedge. In Indore it is topped with crunchy sev and sweet-sour chutney — the street version.
Ingredients: 1 pcs lime · 4 tbsp coriander · 2 tbsp grated coconut
Before you start
Thick flakes, not thin
Poha comes in two thicknesses. Thin flakes are for dry-roasted snacks; this dish needs thick flakes that keep their shape after rinsing. Thin ones turn to mush under the tap alone.
The sugar is not a mistake
A pinch of sugar is characteristic of Maharashtrian and Madhya Pradesh poha. It does not make the dish sweet but balances the lime's acidity and the chilli's heat. Other regions often leave it out.
Eat it straight away
Poha hardens as it cools and does not reheat well — the flakes dry out or clump. Make what you will eat. It all takes under half an hour, so there is no need to cook ahead.
