Poha Batata is a breakfast item popular in the states of Gujarat & Maharashtra. Not only this, but it is pretty straightforward. There’s no complex procedure involved in making it. Even the ingredients are readily available in your kitchen or at the nearest grocery store.
Both poha & batata are native Indian language words. Poha means rice flakes & batata is potato. In short, this breakfast item is a delicious combo of vegetable & rice grains. Depending on the taste, people add nuts, veggies, spices & other stuff to make it more enticing.
For example, we have added sev. It’s deep-fried gram flour crunchy noodles seasoned with turmeric. Now that is our unique way to eat poha batata. Like us, you can also garnish your poha batata. Hence, we can say that it is a versatile Indian snack with different versions.
Poha batata is ridiculously famous here in India. People have set up a full-time businesses around it. If you visit Indore or Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, you will find shops selling it early in the morning. However, the taste will differ from shop to shop. Everybody has their unique style of making it.
Unlike the shop owners, we have integrated a crunchy & nutty flavour into our poha batata recipe.
Roast peanuts till they release a smoky fragrance. By doing this, the peanuts will burn a little & become crunchy. The whole idea of roasting peanuts is to eliminate the raw taste & moisture. Crunchy nuts will enrich the overall flavour of the dish. Try it.
Sugar will add a sweet taste. Now you may or may not like sugar. What you can do is either skip the sugar or reduce the quantity. Remember, sugar is not mandatory.
To reduce the sweet taste, add lemon juice or green chilli. It will nicely balance the sweet & sour taste profile.
Okay, now you know enough about poha batata. Let’s cook it. We will start with the item list.
Wash & rinse rice flakes with water before you begin the cooking process. Allow the water to drain, making the rice flakes completely dry. Watch the recipe video to see how it’s done. Now this entire thing is the part of pre-preparation.
Once the rice flakes are dry, add salt & mix well. Now you have soaked & salty rice flakes. Keep aside. It’s time to make the tadka.
Temper black mustard, peanuts, green chilli, curry leaves, onion, potato & tomato in cooking oil. Temper until peanuts are crunchy. Make sure the potato chips don’t burn.
Now add the remaining ingredients with rice flakes. Mix well. Garnish using freshly chopped coriander. Your crunchy poha batata is ready. Sprinkle sev as per taste & enjoy.