Homemade Poha Recipe
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Poha is a breakfast recipe popular in India. It’s made with flattened rice (thick poha) that is tempered with spices and onions. Peanuts and peas are added to the dish as well. Not only is this recipe quick and easy to make at home (keep reading, there’s photo guidance), it also includes my tried-and-tested tips for cooking filling, flavorful poha with great texture.
Indian breakfast recipes are often savory than sweet. I don’t know why, but what I do remember is always eating a savory breakfast growing up. Savory dishes like rava upma (by the way, I also make a quinoa version of it, which makes it more filling), aloo paratha, spinach puris, and sandwiches were what we usually ate for breakfast.
Poha was another popular breakfast dish in our home. Poha is flattened rice which requires almost no cooking and can be prepared very quickly. It is traditionally a Western Indian breakfast dish, but its taste and ease of preparation has made it extremely popular all over India.
Traditionally in the state of Maharastra, it is known as “kanda poha” (kanda=onion) where poha is made with only onions. I know some people like to add a lot of veggies to their poha, which you can do, but I like it simple with just onions, potatoes and green peas.
My poha didn’t always turn out well. I struggled with making good poha when I first started making it, sometimes it was too dry and other times too mushy. But over the years as I started making poha more regularly for breakfast, I learned the little things that help in making the perfect poha! And now I always follow my homemade easy poha recipe which comes together in 25 minutes!
My Tips To Make Good Poha
- Rinse the poha in a strainer until it turns soft. You can check if it’s done by taking a flake and pressing it between your thumb and index finger. It should break easily. This step makes sure the poha doesn’t turn mush when you add it to the pan. I also add salt, sugar and turmeric into the strainer once the poha is soft, however you may add them directly to the pan too.
- Do not skip on the peanuts as they give a nice texture to the poha.
- Add a little sugar to balance the flavors, just a little bit really helps in balancing the flavors of the poha. It’s optional though.
- After you add the rinsed poha to the pan, mix it well and then taste test it. If it feels dry, sprinkle some water over the poha (just sprinkle, and add more as needed). I usually have to sprinkle some water since the poha dries out a little in the strainer as you make the tadka in the pan.
- After mixing poha and taste testing it for dryness, cover the pan with a lid and let it steam on lowest heat for 1 to 2 minutes before turning of the heat.
- Finish with fresh cilantro and lemon juice, it adds so much flavor. I cannot have my poha without a good squeeze of lemon juice.
- Before you serve the poha, garnish it with sev and then dig right in. If you don’t have sev, other namkeens like aloo bhujia, chivda also work great. For those who don’t know what sev is, it is a kind of savory snack made with chickpea flour. It’s deep fried and usually enjoyed with chai.
Let’s See How I Make Poha at Home
- Rinse poha in a strainer until soft
Rinse the poha under running water until it’s soft. It should break easily when pressed between your thumb and index finger. Add turmeric, salt and sugar to it once it’s soft and mix. Then start with the tadka.
- Add peanuts for crunch
I don’t recommend making poha without peanuts. No, seriously you need peanuts for that lovely crunch. Use raw peanuts and then cook them for a minute or two until they start turning golden brown in color.
- Sauté the onions and curry leaves
Once the peanuts are roasted, add the chopped onion, green chili and curry leaves. Cook for around 2 minutes until the onions soften.
- Add potatoes and peas
Then add the vegetables- peas (I used frozen peas and soaked them in warm water for 10 minutes prior to using) and chopped potatoes. Mix well and then cover the kadai with a lid and let the potatoes cook. Make sure to chop the potatoes into small pieces (1/2 inch) so that they cook fast.
- Toss in the poha
The potatoes will cook in around 4 to 5 minutes. Once cooked, toss in the poha. Taste test some poha at this point and if it feels dry, sprinkle a little water all over and cook for 1 minute.
Cover the kadai with a lid and turn heat to low. Let the poha steam for 2 minutes on lowest heat and then remove the pan from heat. Garnish with cilantro, lemon juice and sev!
Adding Vegetables to Poha
My poha recipe only has onions, potatoes, and peas but you may add more vegetables. My mother-in-law also adds carrots and cauliflower to her poha. Make sure to chop your vegetables fine so that they cook quickly along with everything else.
Notes
- I use thick poha for this recipe, there’s also a thin poha variety available in the market. I don’t like using thin poha for making this recipe, the thin version is best for making my favorite chivda!
- Make sure to cut your potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces or smaller else they won’t cook quickly.
- If you prefer a kick in your poha, add lots of green chilies and then top it with a spicy sev.
25-Minute Poha Recipe (Quick & Simple)!
Ingredients
- 1 & ½ cups poha 114 grams , I use thick poha
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ + ⅛ teaspoon salt divided, adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon sugar optional
- 1 tablespoon oil I used avocado oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 & ½ tablespoons peanuts use raw peanuts
- 1 small red onion chopped
- 1 green chili chopped
- 10-12 curry leaves
- ½ cup chopped potatoes ½ inch cubes
- ⅓ cup green peas I used frozen, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro + more to garnish
- ½ lemon juice of
- sev to garnish
Instructions
- To a strainer, add 1 & ½ cups of poha (flattened rice). Rinse it under running water until it turns soft. To check if it's done, press a flake between your thumb and index finger, it should break easily. Then to the poha, add ¼ teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon sugar (optional). Toss to combine everything and then set it aside while you make the tadka in the pan.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a kadai on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds and let them pop.
- Then add 1 & ½ tablespoons raw peanuts and sauté for a minute or two until they start turning brown.
- Add 1 small red onion (chopped), 1 green chili (chopped) and 10 to 12 curry leaves. Stir and cook for 2 minutes until the onions soften.
- Now, add ⅓ cup green peas (which were soaked in warm water for 10 minutes prior) and ½ cup chopped potatoes (½-inch cubes) and mix. Cover the kadai with a lid and let the potatoes cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until soft.
- Then add in the rinsed poha and toss to combine. Taste test some poha and if it feels dry, sprinkle little water all over (I usually do that). Cook for 1 minute. Also tastes test and add more salt as needed at this point (I added around ⅛ teaspoon extra salt here). Cover the kadai with a lid and set the heat to lowest setting and let the poha steam on low for 2 minutes and then remove the kadai from heat.
- Add 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, juice of ½ lemon (medium size lemon) and stir. Garnish with sev and serve hot.
Notes
- You may also garnish the poha with freshly grated coconut, tastes great.
- Make sure to use thick poha here. The thin poha doesn’t work for this recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks, I made this today and it turned out perfectly. We just returned from a month long trip to India and I had this dish for the first time and enjoyed it so I was determined to make it when I returned home to Canada.
glad you enjoyed poha!
Really great recipe, Thanks for sharing!
glad you liked it, thanks for trying!
I follow your recipes quite keenly and a lot of what I turn out these days, stuck at home, thanks to this pandemic are your recipes – simply because they are awesome in taste and a breeze to cook. Thanks a ton. Today was “poha day” and I am very proud of what I cooked up.
I am glad to hear that Anupam!
Hi Manali! Is it possible to make this without curry leaves and use bay leaves instead? Where I live none of the local Indian shops or even big box stores have curry leaves stock!
yeah skip the curry leaves, if that’s your only option. Don’t use bay leaves.
Curry leaves can be bought fresh over the ‘net. try Shopindian.com if you like. I have no affiliation with them, just have found the selection to be very good.
As a student this was a really easy recipe to make and follow through! I would request you to please add the measures of the ingredients to the steps so as it’s easy to read through. It can be a task to scroll up and look at the measures and then follow the step!
Hi Shourya, glad you liked the recipe. This is how most recipes are written, you will find them in similar format on most blogs and also in cookbooks. You are supposed to gather the ingredients first and then cook by following the instructions.
But I think this format was from cookbooks where all the info is on the same page. Most of us use our phones now and have to keep scrolling up and down just to see the quantities. It would be helpful to have the quantity in the recipe as well.
Collecting all the ingredients before cooking is fine but prepping them for the correct quantity means we end up having to wash more plates/bowls etc so no one does it other than chefs and bloggers.
here’s a tip for you if you don’t want to prep the ingredients first, press the print button on top of the page. that will open the recipe in another window where everything is on one page. Hope that helps.
This recipe is fab! I was introduced to poha last summer when I travelled solo across (western) India. It was a common breakfast meal and I loved it from the very beginning. At the end of my trip I was sad that it was something I likely wouldn’t be able to have again or recreate for myself, unless/until I visited again.
Lucky for me I recently moved to a bigger country where there are more options on Amazon, and I came across your website. I used dried curry leaves and unfortunately didn’t have any sev, but otherwise followed your directions as written. It tastes just like the poha I had in India and I’ll definitely be making it over and over again! Thank you!!
Great recipe I also added Corn with the peas and removed the onions to make it Jain.. Quick and easy..
Hi, loved the recipe and all the flavours it had. But my peanuts got soggy and when I added soaked poha to the pan with everything in it- some of it got stuck to the pan. What to do about these too
not sure what happened. You have to cook the peanuts until they turn brown, they remain crispy until the end. I cook poha every other week and never had this problem.
Thank you for this recipe! I love Poha! My adopted son, who is an India doctor, makes this for me when I go stay with him and the family. Now I can make it! Thanks again!
I will try this at home.
Great recipe. I love poha. Please do check out my poha recipe on my blog foodielogs as well
U missed the peas in the ingredient list. Lol
Anyway me gonna have to make without them, finished my stock :/
Oops, thanks for pointing it out! will correct it now!
Also Sugar, When to add it? Will be cooking tomorrow 😀
add when you add the poha back into the pan