Pohe, a savory dish made with beaten rice comes in many variations depending on which region in Maharashtra or even India you are from. Here I describe the pohe that my ex-mother in law taught me. They are proper Marathi kande pohe served best with garam chai.
Ingredients:
Thick pohe soaked in water for a minute and then drained
Cumin, heeng, Turmeric
Onions chopped fine but lengthwise
Oil
Ginger
Green chillies chopped lengthwise
Peanuts (raw, unsalted are best)
Lime juice
Cilantro
Salt, sugar
- In a wide, shallow pan, heat two tblspns of oil
- Add heeng and cumin, let sputter. Add chopped green chillies. You can also add kadhi patta (green curry leaves)
- While the chillies are still bright green, add the peanuts and let them turn brownish. Add the lengthwise chopped onions. Wait for onions to turn translucent. Grate ginger into them.
- Add turmeric and mix
- Put the soaked and soft poha into the sautéed onions and mix well until the poha is yellowish and coated well with the onions, oil and peanuts.
- Add salt and sugar to taste. Add chopped cilantro leaves and mix.
- Lime juice on top completes the dish.
- A variation of this recipe includes adding sliced potato prior to the poha, cooking the potato covered and then adding the poha--this is called batata pohe. Some regions in Konkani sprinkle wet, grated coconut over the pohe and mix. Pohe are also served with "sev" on top.
Serve hot with desi tea.
Notes: The amount of oil and onions make or break this recipe and using oil sparingly can lead to dried out pohe. To avoid this and still use less oil, I sometimes use soft pohe instead of coarse. They retain moisture and don't dry out after the tadka. But in using the soft/ fine pohe, limit the amount of water used for moistening and drain it immediately otherwise you will have a lump of gooey beaten rice on your hands. While making pohe, limit moisture and water. Pohe after soaking and draining is best made entirely with oil and spices and does not need to be covered to cook.
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