Poha or flattened rice is a flat dry flake of rice, produced after parboiling rice and flattening it. It is a gluten free ready to eat food item which is wholesome, filling and easy to prepare. It has a high nutrient value and is one of the healthiest breakfast item. It provides a good source of carbohydrates, iron, fibre and a good source of antioxidents and essential vitamins.
There is a thick variety of poha used for preparing chivda and other mixture items. The other variety is thinner than the first variety can be used to prepare breakfast. The thinner variety can be used for preparing sweets. It can also be mixed with curds and had for breakfast, which is quick, tasty and easy to prepare. Then there is a nylon variety used to prepare mixture. The red poha variety found in Kerala is very tasty.
Poha can be consumed daily and provides the required energy for our daily activity without the extra fat that stores in our body. By adding groundnuts, vegetables, onion, turmeric, oil, fresh coconut,coriander leaves, curry leaves in the required quantity it becomes a easy wholesome meal to start
Sweet poha does not need any elaborate preparations. It can be used as prasadams or as a snack item in the evening.
Steps for preparing sweet poha:
STEP NO:1
Take a thick bottomed skillet on fire. Keep the fire in low flame. Add about 2 tablesoons of white sesame seeds. Fry till it splutters. Remove the sesame seeds into a big bowl. Now to the same skillet add 2 teaspoons of ghee and fry about 8-10 broken cashewnuts till golden brown.Transfer the mixture to the bowl.
STEP NO:2
Add 1 cup of fresh coconut scraping,1 tea spoon cardamom powder to the sesame cashew mixture.
STEP NO 3:
In the same skillet pour 2 tablespoons of water and 1 cup of jaggery powder (as per taste). Let it simmer till it attains 1 string consistency. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
STEP NO:4
Mix together the coconut sesame mixture with your palm. Add 2 cups of medium thick poha after seiving it and check whether it is free of impurities. Tranfer this mixture to the jaggery syrup. Mix them all together with your palm.
As our educated youths moved to the U.S and other foreign countries they started having cornflakes for breakfast and started to forget poha. With globalisation more and more foreign ready to eat food items entered our country.These food companies started to advertise their products saying that cornflakes and such other items are more nutritious than the indigenous food of Indians. Our youngsters have started to eat the foreign food items thinking that it is trendy. Parents should prepare easy wholesome Indian poha in different ways, and serve it to the family instead of fried bakery items and other fast foods.
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