Poha is a hearty breakfast dish from Ayurvedic cuisine. The basis is always rice flakes – all other ingredients can be modified in many ways. We present you a traditional recipe.
Ayurvedic nutrition focuses on the harmony of body and mind. According to Ayurveda, eating right is important for both physical and mental health. The recipes of this cuisine are usually nutritious and filling and should cover all six tastes of the Ayurvedic teachings: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent.
Poha is an Ayurvedic breakfast recipe that puts this concept into practice. Among other things, the rice flake dish contains honey for sweetness (or sugar for the vegan version), lemon juice for acidity and ginger and chili for spiciness. Various spices provide further strong flavors. We will show you a simple basic recipe for poha that you can expand and vary as you like.
Basic Recipe: Hearty Poha
Ingredients:
200 gPoha (red rice flakes)
1tomato
1 piece of ginger
0.5 tsp turmeric
0.5 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
3cardamom pods
0.5 TLAsant
1 tsp lemon or lime juice
1 teaspoon cane sugar
Directions:
Place the rice flakes in a bowl and mix with your hands for 2-3 minutes to absorb moisture. Then drain the water and catch the rice flakes in a sieve. Set them aside for about ten minutes.
Wash the tomato and cut it into cubes. Peel the ginger and chop it finely.
Add the turmeric, chili powder, and salt to the rice flakes and mix in the spices with a fork.
Heat the coconut oil in a saucepan. Add the mustard seeds to the pot and toast them until they burst.
Once the mustard seeds have popped open, add the cardamom, asafoetida, the chopped ginger and the diced tomato. Let everything cook for about three minutes while stirring.
Then add the rice flakes to the pot and let them cook for 3 to 4 minutes while stirring. If they seem too dry, add some water.
Turn off the stove but leave the pot on the stovetop. Stir in the lemon juice and sugar and let the poha cook for another minute or two while stirring.
Divide the poha between two bowls or plates and serve warm.
Poha: Shopping tips and possible variations
While rice flakes are considered an everyday food in India, they are less common in this country. The “real” red rice flakes for poha are therefore usually only found in Indian specialty shops or in Asian shops. White rice flakes, on the other hand, are much easier to find: Drugstores or larger supermarkets usually have them in their range. If you can’t get rice flakes, you can also make poha based on oatmeal. This is actually the more sustainable option because oatmeal (unlike rice flakes) is a regional food.
Most of the spices that you need for the poha are not of regional origin either, but travel long distances. They have a correspondingly poor ecological balance. We therefore recommend that you only use them sparingly.
Buy spices, but also other ingredients, if possible in organic quality. This is how you avoid products that are contaminated with chemical-synthetic pesticides. You can find out more about this in this article, for example: Buying organic spices: the most important brands and online shops.
The basic recipe for Poha can be supplemented and modified according to personal taste. If you fancy additional vegetables, you can, for example, fry a small onion or a pepper. In summer it is particularly refreshing to mix sliced cucumber with the flakes. A chopped chili pepper, cumin, fresh coriander or fresh parsley refine the taste.
