I have already given the introduction to this here.
This is the simplest of pohas prepared in this way. This was a must in all Konkani wedding breakfasts along with upma. But these days idlis and wadas have replaced this traditional dish.
I could not get the red color to this poha because of the chili powder. The large stock of chili powder that I have here gives very good taste but the color is pathetic.
Ingredients: Poha/avalakki (thin) 1 cup Coconut (fresh) ½ cup Jaggery 1 tea spn Phova pitto 1 tea spn Salt
I tried this dish with medium thick poha, but taste was not at all something like the original thin poha.
Method: Dissolve jaggery in 1-2 tea spn water (Usually black color jaggery, which is in thick liquid state is available at our native, is used for this dish. But since it is not available here, use normal jaggery).
Add salt, coconut and ‘phova pitto’ and mix well with hand. Now add poha and mix (if required sprinkle some water, just to make the poha soaked. Since thin poha is used, it gets mushy if more water is added).
Poha is one of the main items of Konkani breakfast/snack. Depennding upon individual taste there are many varieties in it. There are some types on this blog – kalayil phovu, jeere kalayil phovu. The one with green chillies is another very popular type. These pohas are not heated, they are just mixed with hand. So thin poha is most suitable for these.
Some people do not add sugar and hence diabetics can also enjoy it. But many people like it when sugar is added. When my children were small, we used to make two batches, one with sugar for them and another without sugar for all the elders at home.
Ingredients: 1 cup thin phoha 1/2 cup grated coconut(fresh/frozen) 2 tea spn green chilli pieces 1 tea spn ginger pieces Salt 1 tea spn sugar (optional)
Method: Crush the green chilli pieces and ginger pieces finely with salt using your fingers.Mix it with grated coconut. Add sugar over this, mix. Add poha to this mixture and mix well. Sprinkle a handful of water and mix well (do not add too much water). Serve immidiately .You can eat it with sev or any spicy mixture or on its own.
I had promised long ago that I would post these simple poha dishes that are very popular in Konkani homes. These are basically 10 minute dishes and no cooking involved. Just mix(kalayi in Konkani) all the ingredients with fresh coconut and thin poha and the job is done. These pohas were very popular in any Konkani wedding/function breakfasts, but in the recent times over the last decade or so people have started preparing more fashionable/modern breakfasts.
I think the kalayile(mixed with hand) phovu was chosen because this is fast to prepare and are very filling. These are staple foods for those who do a lot of manual work.
This particular type of kalayile(mixed with hand) phovu is known after my maternal uncle (maam) at my home. He is called Balu at home, so we all call this after him – Balu phovu. That’s because he is very fond of this and he would ask my aayi to prepare this whenever he came to visit us. He loves this more than any other snacks and he can have it at any time of the day :).
Ingredients: 1 cup thin poha 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds 1/2 tea spn ghee 1 tea spn chili powder 1/2 tea spn turmeric powder 1/2 cup fresh/frozen coconut 2 tea spn jaggery Salt
Method: Heat ghee and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add cumin seeds. Switch off heat and add chili powder. Pour this over coconut, jaggery, salt and mix well with hand. Now add poha and mix till everything is well mixed. If you feel it is very dry, add a tea spn water and mix. Water softens the poha. Serve with sev.
Poha is one of the most important part of our breakfasts. Aayi makes the poha a bit sweetish spicy. I love this version more than the normal spicy poha that we get in restaurants. This is a very simple and tasty breakfast.
For cooking newbies, be careful to use proper poha for this. There are 4 types of poha available in markets. They are – Thick poha(Degdi poha), this type can be used for chivda. Because they puff up when deep fried. – Medium thick poha, this is not as thick as the first, but it does not become a paste when soaked in water. This type can be used for batate phovu and masala poha (both of these dishes are called ‘phanni phovu‘ in Konkani, means seasoned poha). These dishes require the poha to be washed in water and then used. – Thin poha, this almost becomes a paste when you wash it. This type is used for Kalayile phovu or sweet poha, because here water is just sprinkled to make it soft(but not mushy). – Paper poha, this almost looks like a plastic paper. Best suited for phova upkari (even thin poha can be used for this dish). This becomes crisp like a paper when fried on a low flame.
Ingredients: 1 cup poha/avalakki (medium thick) 1/4 cup onion(cut into small pieces) or A pinch asafoetida (hingu) 1/4 cup potato(cut into small pieces) 4-5 curry leaves 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 2-3 green chillies 1/2 tea spn sugar A pinch turmeric 1 tea spn oil 2-3 strands coriander leaves(optional) 1 tbl spn lemon juice(optional) 1 tbl spn grated coconut(optional) Salt
Note : Usually either onion or asafoetida are used for this. Both are not used at a time.
Method: Wash poha and drain water. Keep it aside. Heat oil and add mustard. When they start popping, add curry leaves, green chillies. Fry for sometime. Add onion. Fry till they turn brownish. Now add potato pieces and turmeric. Sprinkle some water, cover and cook till potatoes become soft. Now add sugar, salt, asafoetida(diluted in a tea spoon of water) and poha. Mix well. Fry for 1-2 mins on a medium flame. Add coconut and coriander leaves. Mix well and remove from flame. Serve with lemon or squeeze lemon juice before serving.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 20 mins
PS: I love to eat this dish with sev or some kind of mixture.
According to Hindu calender, today is Karthika Shuddha Dwadashi or Uthan Dwadashi. This day is celebrated as “Tulsi pooja” or “Tulsi Vivah(Tulsi wedding)”. Almost all the Konkanis have a structure called as “Tulsi katte” in front of home which has a Tulsi (Holy basil) plant in it. A lamp is lit in front of this daily and worshiped. The “Tulsi katte” at my native looks like follows.
On “Tulsi pooja”, this structure is decorated with sugar canes and flowers. We have a square removable wooden structure which is fixed around the Tulsi katte and sugar canes are tied to this wooden structure and decorated with flowers. Few Amla(goose berry) and tamarind tree branches, along with Amla and tamarind, are planted on the sides of Tulsi plant. In the evening, after sunset, lights are lit on the square wooden structure. Bhatmam(priest) goes to all the houses and performs a wedding of Tulsi to a small statue of Vishnu or Saligram(a form of Vishnu). All kids who attend the function burn crackers. Sweets, sugar cane pieces, churmuri(puffed rice) and coconut pieces are distributed to all the people who come to see this pooja.
These decorations are usually removed on the next day. Along with this, all the lightnings done for Diwali, like the colored lights and “Akashabutti” – a small paper basket kind of thing which is tied around a light, are also removed. Usually “Tulsi pooja” signifies the end of Diwali.
As a kid, this was one of my favorite festivals. I liked to decorate the Pooja-thalis, draw Rangolis in front of the Tulsi katte and burn crackers..
The main sweet we prepare on this day is Sweet poha – poha prepared with jaggery(goD). Molasses, which is generally called as “Pattal goD“(liquid jaggery) is used for this dish. So the actual Sweet poha is almost black in color(takes the color of molasses). I was not having molasses with me, so I used normal jaggery and prepared this dish today to get a feel of Tulsi pooja here.
Method: Mix molasses, coconut, ghee with hand. Now add poha and mix well. Sprinkle some water to make the poha a bit wet. Add cardamom and roasted sesame seeds(optional) and mix well.
When Preeti asked me for this recipe here, I gave a detailed search for this recipe. I got a few links in the internet. But the ‘huli (sour)’ part stopped me by trying this. I like sore dishes, but I thought it is better to avoid lot of tamarind during summer (sour dishes kick start migraine and acidity). But when she again requested it here, I cannot stop trying it. Not having tasted it anytime, I was wondering how the dish would turn out. Then I tried it and Mmmmmmm…it had amazing taste. (This dish was not very sour). Thanks Preeti for letting me know about this amazing dish.
When I googled, I came to know, this dish is also called as ‘puli aval’ in Tamil. There were lot of different versions available. I went ahead with the simplest of them.
Ingredients: Poha (avalakki) 1 cup Tamarind 1 and ½ tea spn (If using the ready-made extract, ½ tea spn) Jaggery(optional) ¾ tea spn Green chillies 2-3 Mustard seeds ½ tea spn Urad dal ½ tea spn Curry leaves 4-5 Chana dal 1 tea spn Pea nuts 1 tbl spn Asafoetida a pinch Coconut(optional) 1 tbl spn Oil 1 tea spn Salt
I used the poha of medium thickness. Some of the links mentioned about adding sesame powder (coarsely powdered sesame seeds) or rasam powder, but I did not use it.
Method: Make a thick tamarind paste with 1tbl spn of water. Mix jaggery. Wash poha, drain water and add the tamarind-jaggery mixture and mix thoroughly (Some people coarsely powder dry poha and then add the tamarind-jaggery mixture). Leave it aside for about half an hour. Heat oil and add pea nuts. Fry for some time. Then add chana dal, when it turns slightly brownish, add urad dal and mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves and asafoetida. Add the poha (which would have soaked the tamarind mixture and become soft), salt and mix. Garnish with coconut. Serve hot.
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 10min (excluding the soaking time)
Poha is a very famous dish. Aayi prepares some 3-4 types of poha. I like this one very much. Phova pitto is used in a variety of dishes like this. But aayi uses the Sambar powder for this. It tastes great. (I will blog about ‘phova pitto’ soon).
‘Phanna’ means ‘Tadka’ and ‘phovu’ is ‘poha’ in Konkani. The name ‘Phanni phovu’ is used because tadka(tampering) is used in this dish. We usually make different dishes with poha. To broadly classify them, – “kalayle phovu” poha mixed with coconut and other things, no heating of any ingredients.This is prepared usually prepared for evening snack. I will blog about them soon. This has atleast 3-4 types in it. – “phanni phovu”,where in the ingredients are heated or cooked
Method: Soak poha in water and squeeze out the water. Keep it aside for 5 minutes, so that poha becomes soft. Heat oil/ghee and add mustard seeds and urad daal. When they start spluttering, add curry leaves. Add finely chopped onion and fry till onions turn slightly brownish is color. Add potatoes cut into very small pieces. Add turmeric, if required, sprinkle some water (do not add more water), cover and cook till potatoes are cooked. Add poha, sugar, salt, sambar masala and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves and coconut. Serve hot.
