Maharashtrian Kande Pohe | Kanda Poha | Beaten rice with onions

Recipe for Maharashtrian Kande Pohe / Kanda Poha

This post falls under the category of ‘you can remove a girl from Mumbai, but you cannot remove Mumbai from the girl’. Poha is my all time favourite dish. Even if you wake me up from sleep in the middle of the night and offer me a plate of hot poha, I will smile at you like an angel and do justice to the dish on hand. And i’m someone who loves my sleep 🙂

If you are an avid follower of my blog, you might know that I have already shared quite a few poha recipes.

• Red Rice Poha
• Protein rich Poha
• Vegetable Poha
• Tamil style poha that my great-grandmother used to make

My memories of Kande Pohe go back to the time when I used to take a double decker BEST bus from VT (CST) station to Colaba, alight a stop before my actual stop, only because it was next to the Zunka Bhakar Kendra stall, which would have piping hot poha in the mornings. These stalls were Govt. established food stalls run by women, offering a few local dishes at subsidised rates. (This was unfortunately was scrapped in 2007.) I’d ask for my regular – the poha, of course, for a princely sum of Rs.5 (now, now, I am not THAT old), but this was a small portion of poha and the rates were subsidised, like I told you.

It was a steaming hot plate of poha, freshly made and lovingly served by the women ‘manning’ the place, and it hit the spot, before starting a day’s work. I’m grateful for these very-affordable, reasonably healthy, freshly made meals that a city like Mumbai offers.

I wont call this a very hearty breakfast, as it’s neither filling nor has much satiety factor. But it does make an excellent in between snack for any time of the day.

My recipe for Kande Pohe is put together from notes jotted down from any Marathi friend who’s poha met the approval of my taste buds. A good poha completely depends on what kind of poha you use in the recipe. I prefer the one that is neither too thin nor too thick. The former turns into a clumped mess very quickly and the latter remains too dry.

A well made poha is fluffy soft, while each grain of beaten rice remains separate. There’s a fine balance of heat from green chillies, acidity from lemon juice and a mild sweetness from the coconut and pinch of sugar used.

Optional extras, not included in the traditional Maharashtrian version are fine sev and pomegranate arils to sprinkle over the top, just before serving.

Kande Pohe is a humble dish with few ingredients, but it takes a few rounds of preparing it to get the texture and balance spot on. So why wait, try this right away!

Kande Pohe | Kanda Poha

 Recipe for Maharashtrian Kande Pohe / Kanda Poha - a light breakfast or anytime meal prepared in the traditional Maharashtrian style, using beaten rice, onions and peanuts. One of my all time FAVOURITES!

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Servings: 2 servings

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1.5 cups poha (medium thick)
• 1 pinch asafoetida
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 5 - 6 curry leaves
• 2 green chillies , finely chopped
• 2 onions medium , finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 lemon (juice of)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsps coconut fresh
• 2 tbsps coriander finely chopped fresh

Method

 

1. Take the poha in a bowl. Wash a couple of times with water. Drain all the water, cover and keep aside for 10 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan.
3. Add asafoetida and then the mustard and cumin seeds. Once the seeds splutter, add green chillies and finely diced onions.
4. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over this and let it cook on medium flame until onions are soft.
5. Add turmeric powder and give it a stir to mix together.
6. Gently loosen up the poha and add to this mix in the pan. Season with salt and sugar and toss gently to combine all ingredients.
7. Cover the pan and steam cook this for 2 minutes so the flavours combine well.
8. Switch off the flame. Add the lemon juice and mix well.
9. Serve onto plates and garnish with fresh coconut and chopped coriander.
10. Serve with wedges of lime and some sev to sprinkle over the top. (optional)

Notes

For best results, serve poha hot with a cup of Adrak Chai--