Vegetable Poha Recipe - Learn How To Make Vegetable Poha

Poha is a light breakfast or snack dish famous across India, Nepal and Bangladesh. It is prepared with flattened rice or chiwda, which is dehusked rice that is flattened into light and dry flakes. The below recipe illustrates how to make Vegetable Poha, which is a combination of chiwda and mixed vegetables.

Preparation Time: 15-20 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 - 20 minutes

Nutritional Content: Rich in carbohydrates, protein, dietary fibre, carotene, vitamins and sodium

Recipe yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• Flattened rice (Chiwda) - 3 cups (thick variety chiwda should be used)
• Vegetables: 2 cups
  • 5-6 cauliflower florets (phool gobi)
  • 1 small Carrot (gajar) cut in long and thin pieces
  • 1 medium size onion (pyaz) chopped to long slices
  • 1 medium sized potato
  • 1/2 cup green peas (hari matar ke dane; thawed if frozen peas are used)
• Green chilli (hari mirch) - 2 finely chopped
• Grated Ginger (adrak) - 1 tea spoon
• Curry leaves (Kari patta) - 7-8
• Spices:
  • Black Mustard Seeds (Rai) - 1 tea spoon
  • Cumin seed powder (jeera powder) - ½ tea spoon
  • Black pepper powder (Kali mirch powder) - ½ tea spoon
  • Red Chilli powder (Lal mirch powder) - ½ tea spoon
• Salt to taste
• Refined oil to cook

Procedure:

1. Wash the vegetables carefully and cut them into small pieces as mentioned above.
2. Heat a pan and add refined oil to it. Add mustard seeds (rai) and curry leaves (kari patta) to the heated oil and allow them to clutter. Now saute the chopped onion (pyaz) till they turn red. (Add a little salt to the onion while you saute them. This will hasten the process)
3. Now add cauliflower florets (phool gobhi), carrots (gajar), potato and peas (hari matar ke daane). Cover the pan with a lid and allow the vegetables to cook well.
4. Remove the lid and add the spices cumin seeds powder (jeera powder), black pepper powder (kali mirch powder), red chilli powder (lal mirch powder) stirring the vegetables to mix all the contents well.
5. Add salt to taste.
6. Wash the flattened rice (chiwda) well until soft, strain off the water and put it aside in sieve or colander to drain off the excess water.
7. Check if the vegetables are cooked and turn soft with the ladle or hands. Then lower the flame and add the soft washed flattened rice (chiwda) to the pan and mix well.
8. Turn off the flame once the falttened rice (chiwda) is mixed well with the vegetables.  You can now move the poha to a beautiful serving bowl and serve hot.

(Tips:  1. Adjust the flame while cooking to avoid blackening of the vegetables; 2. Remember not to overcook the vegetables, they shoud remain crunchy; 3. Use thick variety of flattened rice (mota chiwda); 4. Do not soak the flattened rice (chiwda) in water or else it will get mashed up while cooking. Just wash it in the end when the vegetable are cooked properly and strain off the water. It should be soft and moist and appear as seperate grains in the poha prepared. )