Poha brunch Bengali style

This is my attempt at recreating a dish my mum used to make for weekend brunch from time to time when I was a child. Usually on a Sunday. We would all wake up a little late, I would pop down and make a huge pot of tea, and bring it up with cups, milk, sugar and biscuits and we would all pile into my parents’ room. Chit chat and tea would follow as we either balanced on the edge of mum and dad’s bed or settled down on either the bedroom chair or the floor.

After the Sunday morning tea ritual was over, mum would then sort out brunch. She had many great dishes to make, this was just one of them. We’d tuck into Sunday brunch and then the afternoon was for either relaxing, if we were lucky. Homework if we weren’t. Mum was never lucky, she would then get stuck into the business of cooking not just dinner, but some of the food for the week. By Sunday evening we’d gather again for a full dinner. Then some typical Sunday evening telly, and then bed before school and work the next day. So this dish takes me back down memory lane in a special way.

Poha or chira as it also called, is rice which has been pre-cooked, flattened and then dried. You can buy it in Indian grocers and it is inexpensive. 

Poha – a Bengali brunch classic (vegetarian and vegan)

Serves 2-3

Ingredients: 

2 tbsp peanuts (raw with skin on or pre-roasted and then shelled monkey nuts)

5ml vegetable oil

150g flattened rice (chira)

1 onion, finely diced

1 potato, peeled and finely diced (8-10mm)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Quarter a teaspoon of black mustard seeds

Half a teaspoon kalo jeera/kalonji/nigella/black cumin/onion seeds

Half a teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

3-4 tablespoons frozen petit pois (or peas)

3 tablespoons hot water

Salt and pepper

Fresh coriander

Half a lemon

Green/red chilli, sliced very small (optional)

Sev (fried lentil flour noodles, spicy or plain) (optional)

Dessicated coconut (optional)

You will need:

A bowl, a colander, a small pan, a large pan with a lid.

Method:

1. Heat the teaspoon of oil in a small pan. When hot add the peanuts. Fry for 2 (maybe 3) minutes, stirring constantly. Do not allow to burn; they will go from raw to cooked in moments. Tip out onto a plate covered with kitchen roll, and allow to cool. If you are using pre-roasted monkey nuts all you need to do is peel enough peanuts that you have two tablespoons worth.

2. Soak the flattened rice in water for a couple of minutes to shift any dust or remove any loose starch. Drain and rinse thoroughly in lots of fresh, clean water.

3. In another (larger) pan (large enough to accommodate all the remaining ingredients) heat the tablespoon of vegetable oil. When hot, add the mustard seeds, kalo jeera, onion and potato, mixing thoroughly. You will need to cook for around 10-12 minutes until the potatoes have cooked through. You may need to lower the heat so you don’t burn the spices and onions, stirring every now and then to keep moving and prevent anything catching and sticking.

4. Add the turmeric, peas and peanuts and mix together carefully, heating through.

5. Now add the flattened rice, hot water and sugar. Do your best to mix thoroughly without breaking up the chira.

6. Put on a low to medium heat, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes.

7. Fold with a fork, carefully, so as not to break up the flattened rice and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

8. Serve up in bowls. 

 

9. The bare minimum topping is a squeeze of lemon juice and fresh coriander leaf. Although other optional toppings include chopped chilli, sev and desiccated coconut.

10. Enjoy! This is what the finished dish would look like: