Poha with Potato - Flattened rice with potato

Poha or Aval as we call it in South India is a pantry staple in most Indian households. In South India we make a sweet dish with it and so when my friend Maria told me we were going to have poha with potato for breakfast, I was intrigued.  Maria lives in Delhi - the capital of India.  I was with her last year just before COVID hit and we had such a great time exploring the city.  I will never get tired of Delhi - each time I go there I discover something new.  The weather in Delhi is very similar to Melbourne - cold in winter and hot in summer.  On sunny wintry Melbourne days, my mind travels back to Delhi.  Today was one of those days - sunny but icy cold.  So I decided to make poha with potato for breakfast and be in the "Delhi moment" and think about Maria, her husband and family and hope they are all safe and well.

Maria has a tiffin box on her dining table - which is always filled to the brim with roasted peanuts. Every time we make a dish, if we need crunch, out comes the tiffin box and a handful of roasted peanuts. Today is all about how memories make a dish!

Poha is freely available in the Indian grocery store. You can buy the thick or the thin variety, I used the thin one for this dish.

Tiffin boxes used to be our lunch boxes when we were children. Stainless steel boxes with a snug fitting lid.  There are so many tiffin tales I can tell you - but we will leave it for another day! I have added a picture of a tiffin box so you can see it! :-)

Ingredients:

1 cup poha 

1 brown onion, chopped finely

1 red chilli, sliced diagonally

1 small potato, chopped finely and kept in a bowl of water until ready to be cooked

1/2 a cup of roasted peanuts (I used the ones with the skin because I like the texture and colour)

1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 a lime, juiced

salt to taste

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander for garnish

Method:

Spread the dry poha on a platter. 

Take 1/4 cup of warm water and add 1/8 teaspoon salt to it.  Stir well and sprinkle this on the poha to moisten it. Keep sprinkling water and mixing it with the poha till all the flakes become moist without clumping up.  Set aside.

Heat oil in a saucepan.  Add the cumin seeds and when they start to sizzle, add the onions.  Sauté the onions till it gets transparent. Drain and add the potatoes, turmeric and red chilli. Mix well.  Add salt and a small amount of water - just enough to cook the potatoes till they are tender.  

Next add the moist poha to the mix.  Stir all the ingredients.  Add the roasted peanuts and mix well.  Add the lime juice and mix again. Garnish with chopped coriander.  Serve hot with a chutney, yogurt or pickle and a hot chai.  And keep the rest in your tiffin box for later!