Poha - the staple of Maharashtra: an all ocassion dish!

I was looking for some sites on poha last week, because I suddenly got the urge to make it an
unusual way, may be how they make it in Karnataka, I thought (my husband's Manglore based aunty has one such recipe but she is not at all cell phone friendly).

So i accessed some sites and mostly got kanda poha only... To be frank i did not get the chance to look at too many, but the few i browsed through, I was apalled at the unjustice done to this evergreen favourite of Maharashtra!

See, first of all, you have to visualize the significance of this dish in marathi culture. "Guests coming home to SEE your girl?" Make poha for everyone... and yes, you have to certify that the girl has made it.

Relatives dropping in unexpectedly? Make poha.

Even in regular cuisine, poha is a breakfast that is made in most homes at least once a week.

Personally, only after a long period of cooking did i get the 'sense' of poha - to cook it creating the right balance of portions. Every dish is after all a melage of tastes, flavours and the right proportion is achieved when you can visualize, taste and smell it before it is made!! The nutrition conscious folks can even call it making the dish healthier to make it the perfect vehicle for the right balance of vitamins, carbs, porteins etc.

Ok - enuf lecture....let me demonstrate what i mean with 'poha'!

If you have to make it right, the following ingredients - apart from the poha itself - are MUST.
1) Green coriander nd green chillies.... for taste and for Vit C and iron.
2) kadi patta - fresh
3)Nimboo (lime) - taste and Vit C again
4) fresh grated coconut..proteins, oils nd garnishing

Then the usual culprits-
onions
potatotes
green peas (optional)
pea nuts
oil
spices like mustard , jeera and haldi
salt and sugar
and
thick poha ( thin just wont do...that is for chivda..only seasoned experts can make poha from the thin variety)

How to get the right quantity of poha? My mom told me, one handful for one person. To that total, i add one handful for the pan and one for that unexpected guest!
So get the requisite quantity, put it thru a metallic slieve to get rid of small bits, husk etc., and then give it a quick wash...( ideal way is to wash it in a big kadhai nd pouring the water all at once. Again remove the husk and other impurities that will float on the surface )
transfer the washed poha back to the sieve and let it keep draining while you make the rest of the preparations.

Chop onions fine but long. (my proportion is one onion for two handfuls of poha)
chop green chillies after slitting them - 3-4 onwards...
keep kadi patta ready..

Now put the kadai on flame, pour oil...neither too much nor too little...about one table spoon for the first handful, 1/2 for subsequent. when the oil is hot enough, put the raw peanuts (Check them thru properly for God's sake! spoilt/ bitter peanust carry a very bad toxin!) Qty depends on how much you like the stuff, but don't overdo ...they are just part of the garnish.
Put in the mustard seeds, let them splutter and then add jeera quickly followed by kadi patta and green chilles. (cover immediately so u don't have oil flying out all over the place, including your face!)
one of the things i was appaled about was other recipes asking for things like urad dal and HING to be put in poha..........NO....abs not, sp. the hing....eeeeeeks. I can understand there are some die hard hing fans, i like it too, but please, please, not in poha )

When the chillies are well fried, put in the chopped onions and the potatoes... i put them together so the potatoes also get adequate time to cook and onions are not overcooked.

Add enough salt for just the potatoes...mix the rest with the washed poha. ( there is a reason for this" if you put all the salt in the potatoes now, it will make them too salty; if you put the salt in the poha it might leave the potatoes tasting salt less..the salt also helps the potatoes cook faster). If you are using peas - i do, to make it more nutritious, i also add little bits of half a carrot, for the color - add them now, after the potatoes have been in for a little while.

When potatoes and other veggies are done, put haldi...i put a generous pinch b'coz in our family we like poha with the haldi flavour.

Now add the poha, and give the kadai a shake thru so everything mixes well.
Add a tsp of sugar and cover.

Remember poha does not take too long to cook - 5 minutes should do it.

Squeeze lime into the cooked poha, serve in plate and garnish with coriander nd then coconut - in that order....the white looks very attractive over the green!

Some people like it with pickles - the standard mango or lime one.

Tasty poha?? Good - your daughter will definitely get approved! ( that's a joke,ofcourse..)