Aloo Poha is made from flattened rice tossed with onions, potatoes, peanuts, and spices. This dish makes the perfect breakfast or brunch with a cup of masala chai.
My all-time favorite Indian breakfast - Aloo Poha with a hot cup of Kadak Masala Chai. It's a comforting, delicious, and heavenly combo.
What is Poha?
Poha is a traditional Maharashtrian dish, although it's popular all over India. It's perfect for brunch with a cup of masala chai. Poha is super simple to make and has many variations, but my favorite kind is with onions, potatoes, and peanuts. Additionally, you can also add peas.
Ingredients for Aloo Poha:
Flattened Rice: Poha is flattened rice in English. You can find this at your local Indian grocery store or on Amazon.
Potatoes: I like using russet potatoes for this dish.
Onions: Red or White onions, both work.
Spices: Green Chilies (sliced), Dry Red Chili, Red Chili Powder, Salt, Turmeric Powder, Asafoetida (hing), Mustard Seeds, Curry Leaves.
Peanuts: Unsalted peanuts that are dry roasted - this adds a nice crunch and protein to this dish.
Aloo Poha is:
Light
Delicious
Flavorful
Healthy
Good Source of Protein & Fiber
Vegan
Gluten-Free
Perfect for Brunch
How to make Aloo Poha recipe with step by step photos?
Prep
1. Measure 2 cups of Poha, wash, and set aside.
2. Peel and dice a potato into small cubes. Chop an onion, I just used my Chopper. Set aside curry leaves and sliced green chili.
3. Set aside your spices... mustard seeds, asafoetida (hing), turmeric powder, and dry red chilies.
Cook
1. Heat up a wok on medium heat, once hot, add oil to wok followed by the spices - mustard seeds, hing, turmeric powder, and dry red chilies. Saute for 20 seconds or until the seeds splutter.
2. Then add curry leaves and green chili. Saute for another 20 seconds.
3. Add the onions and potato to the spices. Add salt. Saute for about 3-4 minutes on medium heat.
4. Once the onions and potatoes are slightly brown, this is what you should have.
5. Cover with a lid and cook for 6 minutes. Reduce heat to low-medium heat.
6. In the meantime, heat up a small pan on medium, and dry roast the peanuts. This will take about 3 minutes. Stir occasionally.
7. Once done, this is what you should have.
8. Back to the onion and potatoes, the potato should be fork-tender. If not, then core and cook it for a few more minutes.
9. Add red chili powder and stir.
10. Now gently fluff the poha with a fork.
11. Add the poha to the onion-potato mixture. Mix well until the poha is coated.
12. Add the dry roasted peanuts and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
13. Finish off the dish with fresh cilantro. Mix well.
Serving Suggestions
Always serve Poha with Masala Chai - it's the best combo.
There are a few ways to serve Aloo Poha:
- A squeeze of lemon juice and a side of achaar is delicious.
- Personally, I love mine with a squeeze of lemon juice, achaar, and some yogurt on the side.
- You can also top poha with sev for a nice crunch.
- Lastly, you can also serve Aloo Poha with a side of Cilantro Chutney.
Healthy Substitutes
Aloo Poha is high in carbs, so for a healthier option, you can make the following swaps:
- Use quinoa instead of flattened rice. You will need to cook the quinoa first.
- Replace tofu with potatoes which will result in a higher protein alternative.
I will work on a recipe for this Quinoa Tofu Aloo Poha recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Simply use gluten-free asafoetida (hing) and you'll have GF aloo poha. Poha (flat rice) is naturally gluten-free.
This dish is already vegan and dairy-free. If you serve this dish with yogurt, it'll no longer be vegan, but you can always use dairy-free yogurt.
More Indian Breakfast Recipes
Pin & Enjoy!
Aloo Poha
Healthy, Vegan, Gluten-FreeIngredients
- 2 cups poha
- 1 ½ tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 Idaho potato, diced
- 1 green chili, sliced in half
- 10 curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 3 dry red chilies
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ⅛ teaspoon asafoetida, hing; use gluten-free (optional)
- ¼ cup unsalted peanuts, dry roasted
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- salt to taste
- ⅓ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
Prep
- Measure 2 cups of Poha, wash, and set aside.
- Peel and dice a potato into small cubes. Chop an onion, I just used my Chopper. Set aside curry leaves and sliced green chili.
- Set aside your spices... mustard seeds, asafoetida (hing), turmeric powder, and dry red chilies.
Cook
- Heat up a wok on medium heat, once hot, add oil to wok followed by the spices - mustard seeds, hing, turmeric powder, and dry red chilies. Saute for 20 seconds or until the seeds splutter.
- Then add curry leaves and green chili. Saute for another 20 seconds.
- Add the onions and potato to the spices. Add salt. Saute for about 3-4 minutes on medium heat.
- Once the onions and potatoes are slightly brown, this is what you should have.
- Cover with a lid and cook for 6 minutes. Reduce heat to low-medium heat.
- In the meantime, heat up a small pan on medium, and dry roast the peanuts. This will take about 3 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Once done, this is what you should have.
- Back to the onion and potatoes, the potato should be fork-tender. If not, then core and cook it for a few more minutes.
- Add red chili powder and stir.
- Now gently fluff the poha with a fork.
- Add the poha to the onion-potato mixture. Mix well until the poha is coated.
- Add the dry roasted peanuts and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Finish off the dish with fresh cilantro. Mix well.
nandini.p says
hello! first time to ur blog!.Like ur clicks a lot!. Poha is my personal fav!. I like this way of making it than the kind we make it at home (South indian ) .
honeywhatscooking says
Hi Nandini, Thanks so much... hope you enjoy it!
sweetie says
you're awesome! definitely subbing your blog. i had a bit of trouble figuring out some of the spices but i see a lot of them are common but you've listed the indian names. : )
Anonymous says
hi thanks for the recipe..looks really good.i would like to know if i add carrot and peas when do i add it?thanks
honeywhatscooking says
@Anonymous, add the peas/carrots after step 14 and before step 15.
Once they soften and release a little water.. and hopefully evaporates, go ahead with step 15 and continue. Hope this helps!
indian recipe says
good one 🙂
Prajna shetty says
whenever I made aloo poha, it always used to come out disastrous. But today I tried your recipe for breakfast and it was a hit!! thanks soo much for the illustrations. keep posting such good recipes.
Papisha says
I made Poha two days ago and it was a hit for my 15 month old. It's a perfect weekend breakfast dish to make. Everytime I made it my potatoes was not cooking correctly or too mushy because I boiled it; the best part I actually didn't burn my onions. I would always leave out the potatoes for any reason. Want to thank you for the steps of making my Poha on point and potatoes back in my Poha.
Shefali says
This was perfect with my morning tea ! The flavors and spice has a good kick