A fairly common breakfast dish in Uttar Pradesh, it is usually made in the winter months when green peas are in season. This delicious crunchy dish is a hit with most visitors besides being a family favourite. Some years ago when this was served to the Gundecha Brothers, they christened it 1-2-3-4 in the order in which it was served.
Add a little oil to a pressure cooker. Add jeera, ginger, and chopped green chilli. Add a pinch of asafoetida. Saute for less than a minute and add the green peas. Add the salt, less than a ½ cup of water, and pressure cook for a single whistle. I make this with frozen peas. On opening the pressure cooker, if there is any excess water, please cook further on open flame to dry it out.
Heat the oil until just under smoking. This should be a wok which can take a metal sieve since the poha is fried in that. Divide the poha in 3 batches. Add it to a sieve, a little at a time, leaving lots of room for expansion and immerse in oil. It will puff up instantly. Note that poha becomes more than double its size on frying. Repeat the process until all is done. Do not over-fry. A white colour is perfectly acceptable.
Once the poha is done, fry the green chillies in the same oil. Transfer the peas to a bowl and squeeze some lime. Garnish with coriander leaves. Transfer the poha into another bowl and top with the fried long chillies. Serve with a side of green chutney and quartered lemons.
Best not to
The poha needs to be crisp, so I recommend that it be done just before serving or you will need to store it in an airtight container once it cools. If you are frying poha for the first time, take a very small quantity to test it out.
For serving, first serve the poha, top with the peas, add some lemon and eat it with the chutney. This is the 1, 2, 3, 4 mentioned in the introduction.
This dish tastes best if eaten fresh, so I wouldn’t recommend storing it.
