Guest post: rani in the kitchen part 6 - potato poha - Dairy Foods

Today's guest post is part 6 in the series "Rani in the Kitchen", written by my friend Amy. Click here for parts 1-5.
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I love today's recipe, Potato Poha. This is second part of my last post, which was a breakfast post. This recipe is great because it is SUPER simple and quick. You can eat this recipe anytime during the day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even as a snack! I make this recipe often instead of basmati rice, or as I did last week, to go nicely as a type of Indian hash brown recipe with curried scrambled eggs!

So lets start with the basics. Poha is a flattened rice that is eaten in many parts of India. You can read about it here.

Poha is often used as a snack-type food, but can also be a nice change from plain basmati rice. I often make the recipe below with peanuts instead of potatoes as a mid-afternoon snack for Jay and I.

One small catch to this recipe: I'm fairly certain poha is only available at Indian supermarkets. So in order to make this, you'll almost certainly have to venture out and get some. But hey, what's cooking without a little culinary adventure? So Google an Indian grocery store near you! I usually buy the Swad Thick Poha. I know others that buy the Thin Poha, but I really like this kind the best:

After you get your Poha, you should hvae the rest of the ingrediants handy. The recipe takes about 20 minutes to make.

Aloo Poha (Potato Poha)

Ingredients

1 large russet potato
2-3 handfuls of thick poha
11/2 Tablespoon of Turmeric
1 Tablespoon of black or brown mustard seeks
1 medium onion
1-2 green chilies or 1 teaspoon for red chili powder
1 inch grated ginger (or 1 1/2 tablespoon ginger paste)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2-3 Tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
Handful of cilantro
Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Peel the potato, cut into bite size cubes, and boil until you can put a fork through it, but not mushy (6-8 minutes). Drain the water.
2. While the potato is boiling, put two to three handfuls of poha in a colander. Rinse the poha well, drain, and sprinkle with turmeric and salt and set aside.
3. Thinly slice and chop your onion
4. Thinly slice and chop your chiles
5. Heat oil on medium high heat in a non-stick pan. (I've found this recipe always cooks better in a non-stick pan)
6. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. They should quickly start to pop, then add the onion, and chiles. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
7. Add the potatoes and ginger (and chile powder if you did not use chiles above). Saute until the potatoes start to fry and brown.
8. Add your damp poha mixture into the pan and sautee for 1-2 minutes.
9. When the poha is well coated with the sides and starts to dry out, turn off pan.
10. Sprinkle lemon juice, salt, and freshly chopped cilantro into the mixture.

Feel free to add peas or peanuts into this mixture as well. Poha is sort of like fried rice, you can make it a million different ways!