POHA – BEYOND FLATENED RICE

Poha is much beyond flattened rice flakes.

Calling Poha “Cooked flattened Rice” is criminal, it is being insensitive to Poha lovers, Poha is Poha and it doesn’t have an “English” name to it. Traditionally, a Central Indian dish, Poha is extremely popular in the northern belt of Maharashtra and southern belt of Madhya Pradesh. Traditionally, a Central Indian dish, Poha is extremely popular in the northern belt of Maharashtra and southern belt of Madhya Pradesh.

Poha is the signature breakfast dish and a popular item of street food. The recipe uses chopped onion and chilies, mustard seeds, pomegranate, coriander, and jeeravan masala — the mix of spices that is said to give the Indori poha its distinctive taste. There is cumin, bay leaf, nutmeg, mace, asafoetida, black salt, ginger powder, mango powder, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom — all dry roasted — in the spice mix. The Indori poha has a characteristic sweet-sour taste and is often enjoyed with jalebi.  Indori Poha resembles its name from the city of Indore being its place of origin. It is believed that it was created after India’s independence in 1947. Poha is a famous breakfast in every state with their style of making.

In Maharashtra, the onions are lightly sauteed and the kanda batata poha of both Maharashtra and Gujarat derives its texture, taste, and name from potato. In Madhya Pradesh, the onions are chopped and sprinkled on top. There is a crunch of peanuts and coconut shavings, along with curry leaves and a garnish of coriander leaves. The poha in Odisha is made from the short-grained, fragrant Acharmati rice — the autumn crop with which Odias also make khichdi, pulao, and kheer. The Odia poha or chuda santula is distinctive for its use of vegetables like carrots, and ginger. In the aval upma of South India, the aroma of curry leaves and the heat of green chill’s mix with mustard tempering and the crunch of roasted peanuts to make for a breakfast dish that is also tempting as a snack at any time. For Bengalis, the poha is chire’r pulao, to which is added, apart from a variety of vegetables, often raisins. Goans make doodanche fov it is a sweet poha cooked with milk, sugary, with a hint of cardamom.

If we talk about poha history it is said that it is brought by Kellogs brother in the 1890s but poha is older than it. The story of Krishna and Sudama usually has the latter bringing a few handfuls of poha when he goes to meet his rich and royal friend and far from disdaining, Krishna relishes this memory of their youth. Poha also went beyond India well before cornflakes were invented. When the British came to India, they found this easy-to-prepare grain a useful product for their Indian soldiers. In 1846, an order from the Bombay garrison that whenever native troops were to be transported by ship, “the commissariat department will supply only grain parched, and ‘powa’, for their use on the voyage.”

Poha has traditionally been one of India’s most favored breakfast. It is a wholesome meal and a good source of carbohydrates, iron, loaded with fiber and a good source of antioxidants and essential vitamin and gluten-free. However, it is the healthiest breakfast with 76.9% carbohydrates, 23.1% and 0% of protein. This makes it an ideal breakfast option since energy in the form of carbs is what is required in the morning.