Chirer Pulao/Poha is a well known street food/snack in India. This can be enjoyed both as a breakfast or an evening snack.
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In my search of more dairy free breakfast options Poha has made an eminent place in the list. This recipe is extremely easy to follow and is slightly different from the traditional one to make it healthier. Also this would be a dairy free, vegan and vegetarian friendly, gluten-free snack for anyone who doesn’t know what Poha is all about.
Things you need :
- Thick flattened rice/chudwa/chire – 250g
- Raisins – 50g
- Cashew nuts – 25g
- Peanuts – 50g
- Green peas – 25g
- Bell pepper – 1
- Beans – 25g
- Carrot – 1/2
- Baby Corn/ sweet corn
- Ghee/Clarified butter – 1 tsp
- Vegetable oil – 4tbsp
- Whole spices, 2 cardamoms, 2 cloves, 2-3 small pcs of cinnamon, 2 bay leaves
- Salt
- Turmeric 1 tsp
- Black pepper 1/2 tsp
- Green chillies – 2
- Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
- Sugar 1 tbsp
- Milk – 1/2 cup
- Finely chopped ginger 1 tsp
Basically you can throw any vegetable of your choice in this dish. I usually try to use some colorful veggies for the look and some aromatic and flavorful veggies to enhance the taste of it. You can definitely tweak the proportion of flatten rice and veggies with respect your diet.
Preparation :
- Wash the chire/flattened rice and drain the water. The flattened rice should be thick enough so that they don’t get mushy in just one wash.
- Soak the raisins
- Dry roast the peanuts and cashews .
- Chop the vegetables of choice in small blocks
- Soak the green peas in hot water for 2-3 minutes/ this step is not necessary for frozen peas.
- Mix garam masala and sugar in the milk.
Procedure :
- Heat oil in a pan and add the whole spices into it.
- After 30 secs or so add the gingers
- Sauté the vegetables and add turmeric powder, black pepper, salt and a dash of water occassionally to help the veggies cook nicely.
- Add the flattened rice and mix it nicely with the fried vegetables.
- Add spice-milk mixture.
- Add the roasted peanuts, cashews and raisins.
Cover the pan with a lid for 2-3 minutes and Chirer Pulao is ready to be served!
On the street side you will get this served with the garnish of bhujia, sev, chopped onions and coriander. For the healthier version, you can totally ditch those.
If you like this recipe please do give it a try.
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