Kanda poha recipe with ghee, no soggy breakfast flakes
This kanda poha recipe starts with thick flakes in a strainer and onion tadka in cow ghee. Two tablespoons. If it turns to mush, you soaked it in a bowl of water.
Kanda poha recipe
Kanda means onion. Maharashtrian breakfast in a kadai, flakes that still look like flakes on the plate. Most pages drown them in oil and call it fluffy. I use cow ghee for the mustard and the onion. Two tablespoons for 2 cups dry poha. More than that and you are eating grease with turmeric.
This is cooked kanda poha. Dadpe is a different dish, mixed raw with coconut and barely heated. The tadka still wants the heat I wrote about in cooking with ghee. Mustard and jeera go in the same way they do for ghee dal tadka. Poha only needs a minute or two after that. Keep tossing and the flakes smash.
Ghee for the tadka
Oil will cook the onion. I still use ghee because mustard and curry leaves smell like morning in it, not like a canteen fry. Cow ghee stays softer once the plate cools, which matters if this sits in a box. Buffalo is the wrong fat here. I wrote the animal split on cow vs buffalo ghee.
Mustard, jeera, curry leaf tadka
2 tbsp cow ghee
A ladle. The flakes clump and taste greasy.
Onion
Soft and pale in that ghee
Dumping raw onion onto wet flakes.
Peanuts
Fry them in the tadka first
Raw peanuts on top at the end. They taste like dust.
Tiffin at 11 am
Cow ghee, extra 1/2 tsp
Buffalo. It sets like wax on cold flakes.
Ingredients and which poha
Two generous plates, one kadai, medium heat. I buy thick or medium poha. Thin nylon stuff goes soft even if you are careful, so I only use it when that is all the shop has, and I make a smaller batch.
- 2 cups thick or medium poha
- 2 tbsp cow ghee, plus 1/2 tsp to finish if you want
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin, pinch of hing
- 2 sprigs curry leaves, 2 green chillies slit
- A handful of raw peanuts
- 1/4 tsp turmeric, salt, 1/2 tsp sugar optional
- Lemon, coriander
If you still need the fat defined, what is ghee.
Thick flakes
Thin poha turns to glue if you look at it. Thick flakes take the rinse and still have a centre. Medium is fine. Red or white, both work. Thickness matters more than the colour of the rice.
Method
Thirty minutes. Most of that is the poha sitting in the strainer while you slice onion.
Rinse and rest
Put the poha in a strainer. Run water through it two or three times, moving it with your hand, until the water runs less milky. Drain hard. Shake it. Leave it 8 minutes. A flake should squash between your fingers and still look like a flake. If it is paste, you soaked it. Start over with a fresh cup. I do not dump poha into a bowl of water. That is how canteen mush happens.
Season the flakes
Turmeric, salt, and the pinch of sugar if you use it. Toss with a light hand. I do this before the tadka so I am not stirring turmeric into hot ghee and turning the onion brown.
Ghee tadka
Two tablespoons cow ghee, medium. Mustard until it pops. Cumin. Peanuts until they smell roasted. Stop before they go black. Curry leaves will spit. Then green chilli, hing, onion. Cook the onion until it turns soft and pale. Raw onion on wet poha just tastes like a kanda sandwich. Burnt onion tastes like yesterday's leftover tadka.
Fold, do not mash
Poha into the pan. Fold for one to two minutes. You are warming it through and coating it, not making fried rice. Keep going and the flakes break. If the pan looks dry, you under-rinsed or skipped the rest. A teaspoon of water on the side of the kadai, not a pour on the pile.
Finish
Lemon, coriander, and a half teaspoon of ghee on top if the plate will sit. Sev if you want crunch. Serve it. Poha left in the kadai dries on top and clumps underneath.
Failure fixes
If it failed, check the rinse and the heat before you blame the masala box.
Mush
Thin poha, or a soak in standing water. Strainer, rinse, drain, rest. A flake that pastes in your fingers is already gone.
Dry, raw centre
No rest after the rinse, then high heat. Wait until a flake mashes. Fold for one to two minutes, then stop.
Oily clumps
Too much ghee, or ghee on wet poha. Two tablespoons. Drain like you mean it first.
Burnt tadka
Mustard went black, curry leaves charcoal. Medium heat. Seeds pop, then peanuts, then onion. Do not dump everything onto a ripping pan.
What else in the morning
I make this when I do not want dosa batter sitting in the fridge. No poha in the tin, then eggs in ghee. Khichdi is a slower morning. Rolled oats instead of flattened rice, oatmeal with ghee.
A dabba of poha dries. Same morning, cow ghee, a lemon wedge on the side. I packed the steel-box notes into ghee for tiffin.
The tadka is two tablespoons. Watch the batch.
Cow ghee for breakfast flakes. Authentic Urban A2 Bilona, made after the order, packing video on the batch.
Which jar to keep
You eat this off a plate at 8 am, so buy cow ghee you can smell. Named breed, a method you can describe. We make that jar. Curd-churned A2, packing video on the batch. This is two tablespoons in a kadai. Do not cook breakfast in a tin that smells like packing oil. Cow shortlist is best cow ghee in India. If you still need a buying order, how to choose ghee.
Conclusion
Kanda poha recipe this way is thick flakes you rinse and rest, then fold through onion tadka in cow ghee. Two tablespoons. If it went mushy, you soaked it. Smell the pan when the mustard pops. The flakes should still look like flakes on the plate.
Keep cow ghee for a morning kadai
Authentic Urban bilona A2 ghee. Toasted-milk aroma, grain when cool, video of the batch. The fat I use on poha.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this kanda poha recipe with oil instead of ghee?
You can, and a lot of kitchens do. It will taste like every other kanda poha. I use ghee for the mustard, jeera, and onion. Two tablespoons for 2 cups dry poha. Oil is fine if that is what is on the hob.
Why is my poha mushy?
Thin poha, or you soaked it in a bowl of water. Use thick or medium flakes. Rinse in a strainer, drain hard, rest 8 minutes. A flake should squash, not turn to paste. Ghee will not fix wet poha. It just makes the paste shinier.
Why is my poha dry and raw in the middle?
You skipped the rest after rinsing, or you stir-fried thin flakes on high heat. Wait until a flake mashes between your fingers. Fold on medium for 1 to 2 minutes. Stop tossing it like fried rice.
How much ghee for kanda poha?
Two tablespoons cow ghee for 2 cups dry poha, which is about 2 generous plates. A half teaspoon on top if the plate will sit. More than that and the flakes clump and taste greasy. This is breakfast, not halwa.
Cow or buffalo ghee for poha?
Cow. Poha cools fast. Buffalo sets waxy in an AC kitchen or a tiffin, and the flakes feel coated. Keep buffalo for paratha.
Do I have to add sugar to kanda poha?
A pinch is Maharashtrian habit, not a law. I use 1/2 teaspoon for 2 cups poha. Skip it if you hate the idea. Lemon at the end does more work than the sugar anyway.
Can I pack kanda poha in a tiffin?
Yes, same morning. It dries as it sits. Extra cow ghee on top helps a little. Reheat in a pan with a teaspoon of ghee and a squeeze of lemon. The microwave turns it sticky.
Is this the same as dadpe poha?
No. Dadpe is mixed raw with coconut and lemon, barely heated. This page is cooked kanda poha, onion tadka in ghee, then the flakes. Do not cook dadpe from here.
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