Aloo Poha is a popular Indian breakfast or evening snack dish prepared with poha, potatoes, and peanuts.
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Aloo Poha
Aloo Poha is a breakfast/ tiffin dish made with the beaten rice, potatoes and peanuts. This dish also goes by the name of Kanda Batata Poha meaning onion potato poha.
The dish is popular in the north of India and has also been well adopted in the south, known as Aval Upma or Avlakki uppittu.
This poha with aloo recipe is one among many ways that the dish is prepared. You have poha recipes from various states in India of which the Indore Poha and Maharashtrian poha are the most popular.
The difference between Indori Poha and Maharashtrian Poha is that the onions are cooked in the Maharashtra version but added raw on top as a garnish in the Indori version.
Poha from Indore also has a garnish of pomegranate seeds and sev/bhujiya on top for that ultimate crunch. A popular breakfast combo in some North Indian states is Poha-Jalebi – I personally love the combination of sweet and savoury as a breakfast, very much similar to our Karnataka combo of Chow-Chow bath.
Ingredients for Aloo Poha
The main ingredient is Poha – also goes by the name of Aval in Tamil, Avalakki in Kannada and beaten rice in English. Poha is a pre cooked version of rice that has been around in our food culture for more than a millennium. It even finds mention in the puranas, and Jaggery Poha is one of Lord Krishna’s favorite foods. I am using about 1 cup which is approximately 160-180g.
What is Poha made of? – The answer is simple. Its just rice that is soaked, pre cooked and dried into difference thickness. The thicker varieties are used to make various day to day dishes while the thinly beaten one is used for making poha chivda. Poha is apparently healthier than cooked rice since the process of making it helps retain a lot of the minerals and vitamins.
Since this is a recipe for Aloo Poha, potatoes are a must. For this recipe, I am using one large potato. When using the potato for this recipe, dice them into small, equal sized cubes so that it cooks faster and evenly.
[If potato is your favourite vegetable, check out other potato recipes I have on my blog
For the crunch factor, I am using peanuts.
The other ingredients are – Cooking oil, Curry leaves, green chillies, one medium-sized onion, juice from one small lemon.
Grated coconut is an optional ingredient – it adds a sweet taste to the dish that I personally love.
How to make Aloo Pohe at home?
The first step is to soak the poha/ beaten rice for 10 minutes in water. This will help soften up the poha, which will be perfect for immediate use. Meanwhile, you can prep the other ingredients – finely chop the onion, dice the potatoes, slice the green chillies lengthwise and keep the curry leaves washed.
Drain the water from the poha by pouring it into a sieve. Allow it to sit in the sieve until all the water drains. The excess starch will also pass through, leaving you with just poha.
Place a kadai on a medium flame and add 2 tsp of cooking oil. I usually use groundnut oil to make aloo poha. Once the oil is warm, add mustard seeds to the oil. When the seeds begin crackling, add the peanuts and toast them to a crisp.
Once the peanuts are crisp, add the green chillies and curry leaves. Saute for a few minutes and then add the onions. At this stage, you can add 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and give it a mix. Once the onions are soft, add the diced potatoes and mix well.
Add 1/2 tsp of salt and 2 tablespoons of water and close the lid of the kadai. Let the potatoes cook in the steam. Diced into small cubes, the potatoes will soften in just 4-5 minutes. With the help of a fork, slice the potato to see if it’s cooked. If it isn’t, sprinkle some more water and allow it to fully cook.
You can now add the poha and give it all a good mix. Adjust the salt levels and mix well. Sprinkle a little more water and cover the kadai. Bring the heat to the lowest setting and let the poha steam cook for a minute.
Turn off the heat and let the Aloo poha be for ten minutes. This process will help the poha absorb the oil, salt and spices.
After ten minutes, squeeze lemon juice into the poha and mix well. If you have grated coconut handy, you can sprinkle some on top as garnish. This will give the poha a sweet taste.
Mix the poha well and serve it warm as breakfast, or evening snacks. You can also pack it for lunch along with some curd.
Storage and Shelf Life
Aloo Poha is an excellent tiffin box dish for school kids and office goers. You can make Aloo poha the previous night and warm it up the next day for breakfast. I usually place the entire box (stainless steel) in a pressure cooker and give it one whistle to help warm it up. If you have a microwave, you can sprinkle some water on top of the poha, mix it well before placing it in the microwave for a minute. You have to make sure that the poha gets mixed well before eating.
Poha will be good in the fridge for up to two days.
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Recipe
Aloo Poha
Ingredients
- 1 cup Poha (beaten rice)
- ¼ cup Peanuts
- 2 tbsp Cooking Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 Green Chillies
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 1 Onion medium sized
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 Potato large
- ½ tsp Salt adjust according to taste
- 1 Lemon juiced
- 2 tbsp Grated coconut
Instructions
- The first step is to soak the poha / aval / beaten rice in cold water for 10-15 minutes. Soaking helps poha to get softer and easier to cook. This also helps remove impurities/dust from the poha. After soaking, drain the water with the help of a sieve and let the poha sit in the sieve until you are ready to add it to the main dish.
- Place a pan on medium flame and allow it to warm up. Add the oil and allow it to get warm.
- Next, add the mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Add the peanuts and roast it until they are crisp.
- Now add the sliced green chillies and curry leaves. Toast them for a bit in the oil and next add the chopped onions. Saute it until the onions get soft. To help the onions cook faster, add turmeric powder and ½ tsp of salt.
- Once the onions are soft, add the diced potatoes and mix the ingredient well. Add about 2 tablespoons of water to help the potatoes to cook.
- Cover the pan with a lid. The potatoes will take about 3-4 minutes to cook under the lid with the help of the steam from the water that we added. Use a fork or spoon to check if the potatoes have cooked. Now, bring the heat to the lowest setting.
- Add the soaked and drained poha to the pan. Add another ½tsp of salt and mix all the ingredients well. The turmeric and oil should coat on all the poha.
- Sprinkle some water on top of the poha and cover the pan with a lid. Let the poha steam cook for a minute or so. Turn off the flame and leave the poha to rest for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, you can squeeze the juice of one small lemon on to the Aloo Poha and garnish with grated coconut. Mix all the ingredients well.
- Serve Aloo Poha with sev sprinkled on top or with a cup of curd.
