Quick, easy, and flavorful poha recipe. Here is the famous kanda batata poha – flattened rice with onions and potatoes recipe with detailed step-wise pictures.
This year I posted quite a few poha/aval recipes, and I am back with one more poha recipe today, and it’s my personal favorite. I grew up eating thengai aval and puli aval, and this style of poha upma is something I relished learned after coming to the US.
What is Poha?
My friend V introduced me to this poha recipe. When I visited her, she made this for our breakfast and served it with chai. It was terrific, and I loved every single bite of this upma. She made this with onions alone, and the poha was ready in less than 20 minutes. Great right?
Poha or flattened rice is quite popular in India, and you can find different varieties of this poha recipe across India. It’s a typical breakfast recipe in northern and western parts of Indian. And today, I am going to share the Maharashtrian version of this poha recipe. I am not calling mine an authentic version, but it’s a delicious one for sure.
PS – These days you can find millet flakes in the market and you can make similar upma with millet flakes. Check out my barnyard millet flakes upma for more details.
Kanda Poha
Kanda means onion, and batata means potato in the Marathi language. And poha is flattened rice. Now you know why we call this dish as kanda batata poha. Some recipes call for frying the potatoes, but I usually go with boiled potatoes. As a part of my weekly meal prep, I boil some potatoes and refrigerate them, which comes in handy for these recipes.
The poha recipe is very straight-forward. We rinse the poha and let it rest. Meanwhile, prepare a basic tempering and saute the onions and potatoes with basic spices and mix in the poha. That’s it.
Now let’s see how to make this poha recipe with detailed step-wise pictures. I did not use any asafoetida so this poha recipe is naturally vegan and gluten-free. Don’t miss to check out my other poha recipes on the blog.
Prep-Work
- Boiling the potatoes – Wash and boil the potatoes in your preferred way. I usually microwave them in the potato setting. I let it cool and then peel the skin and chop them roughly. If you use a pressure cooker, cook the potatoes for three whistles and release the pressure naturally. Let the potatoes cool and peel the skin, and chop. You can boil the potatoes well ahead. As part of my meal prep, I boil some potatoes and refrigerate them.
- Wash and prep the poha – Add the poha in a strainer or colander and rinse it thoroughly through running water atleast twice. Drain the water, drizzle some water (¼ to ⅓ cup approx) and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, you can saute the onion and start with the poha preparation.
How to Make Poha (Kanda Batata Poha)
- Heat a saucepan or kadai and heat the oil. When the oil is hot, add the peanuts and roast until it turns brown and crunchy. Remove the peanuts from the pan and set them aside.
- In the same pan, add the mustard seeds and the cumin seeds. Let the mustard seeds splutter, then add the slit green chilies, curry leaves, and ginger. Saute for 30 to 45 seconds and add the finely chopped onion.
- Saute the onion until it turns soft and translucent, and then add the boiled potatoes, salt, and turmeric powder.
- Ensure the potatoes are thoroughly mixed.
- Now add the rinsed poha and gently mix. Cook for two to three minutes over low heat and then turn off the heat.
- Add the roasted peanuts and the cilantro and mix.
- Serve warm and add the lemon juice just before serving.
Recipe Notes
- Adjust the green chilies and salt according to your taste preference.
- You can use red poha as well, but make sure to use the thick variety.
- Skip peanuts for a nut-free version.
- You can skip potatoes and make this poha with just onions, and in that case, it will Kanda poha, not Kanda batata poha.
- You can add grated carrots and frozen green peas , grated coconut along with potatoes and onions and make it more like a colorful vegetable poha.
Tips for getting perfect non-mushy poha
- I highly recommend thick poha variety or atleast medium-thick. Do not use thin poha variety.
- Do not soak the poha. Wash thoroughly and sprinkle water, and let it rest. For thick white poha, I usually wash it twice and sprinkle ¼ to ⅓ cup of water and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. You can add up to ½ cup of water for this measure but not more than that.
- The resting time and water to sprinkle might vary depending upon the poha variety. Check my thengai aval upma for the red poha resting time.
- Do not overmix the poha; mix it very gently. Rinsed and softened poha flakes tend to break, and when you overmix, it becomes a mush.
- After adding poha, you don’t need to cook for a longer time. Three minutes of cooking time is more than sufficient. Also, you don’t need to cover and cook for this poha.
PS: Follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more gardening and recipe updates. If you try this Kanda batata poha recipe, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it asap. Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest for more healthy and delicious ideas!
Browse the other poha recipes!
📖 Recipe
Kanda Batata Poha | Quick Poha Recipe | Aval Upma
Equipment
- Saucepan or kadai
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1tsp=5ml; 1tbsp=15ml;
- 2.5 cups thick poha/flattened rice
- 3 tsp oil
- 2 tbsp peanuts skip for a nut-free version
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- 1.25 tsp cumin seeds
- 3 green chilies slit
- 1 tsp ginger finely chopped, optional
- 10 curry leaves
- 300 grams onion finely chopped
- 250 gram potato boiled and chopped into chunks
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1.75 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
- ½ lemon cut into wedges
Instructions
Prep-Work
- Boiling the potatoes – Wash and boil the potatoes in your preferred way. I usually microwave them in the potato setting. I let it cool and then peel the skin and chop them roughly. If you use a pressure cooker, cook the potatoes for three whistles and release the pressure naturally. Let the potatoes cool and peel the skin, and chop. You can boil the potatoes well ahead. As part of my meal prep, I boil some potatoes and refrigerate them.
- Wash and prep the poha – Add the poha in a strainer or colander and rinse it thoroughly atleast twice. Drain the water, drizzle some water (¼ to ⅓ cup approx) and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, you can saute the onion and start with the poha preparation.
How to make Kanda batata poha | onion-potato poha?
- Heat a saucepan or kadai and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the peanuts and roast until it turns brown and crunchy. Remove the peanuts from the pan and set them aside.
- In the same pan, add the mustard seeds and the cumin seeds. Let the mustard seeds splutter, then add the slit green chilies, curry leaves, and ginger. Saute for 30 to 45 seconds and add the finely chopped onion.
- Saute the onion until it turns soft and translucent, and then add the boiled potatoes, salt, and turmeric powder.
- Ensure the potatoes are thoroughly mixed.
- Now add the rinsed poha and gently mix. Cook for two to three minutes over low heat and then turn off the heat.
- Add the roasted peanuts and the cilantro and mix. Serve warm and add the lemon juice just before serving.
Notes
- Adjust the green chilies and salt according to your taste preference.
- You can use red poha as well, but make sure to use the thick variety.
- Skip peanuts for a nut-free version.
- You can skip potatoes and make this poha with just onions, and in that case, it will Kanda poha, not Kanda batata poha.
- You can add grated carrots and frozen peas along with potatoes and onions and make it more like a colorful vegetable poha.
Tips for getting perfect non-mushy poha
- I highly recommend thick poha variety or atleast medium-thick. Do not use thin poha variety.
- Do not soak the poha. Wash thoroughly and sprinkle water, and let it rest. For thick white poha, I usually wash it twice and sprinkle ¼ to ⅓ cup of water and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. You can add up to ½ cup of water for this measure but not more than that.
- The resting time and water to sprinkle might vary depending upon the poha variety. Check my thengai aval upma for the red poha resting time.
- Do not overmix the poha; mix it very gently. Rinsed and softened poha flakes tend to break, and when you overmix, it becomes a mush.
- After adding poha, you don’t need to cook for a longer time. Three minutes of cooking time is more than sufficient.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in 2015 but now updated with new pics, and recipe cards with nutrition.
Really great recipe, Thanks for sharing!
Thanks much
I will happily finish this bowl of poha.
My fav breakfast. But no one at home loves this.
Simple yet filling breakfast.
This is our go-to dish for breakfast, lunch or dinner :-) Quick and easy dish to enjoy any time.
My favorite,love to have anytime. Yours looks delicious.
Never get bored of this upma, my all time favourite..
I am not a great fan of poha unless very well made..your version sounds great.
very healthy and tasty recipe dear
Thanks Kushi
Good one Vidhya :) I love it for quick dinner and my recipe is slightly different, will try yours surely.
Thanks GB.
That’s a quick breakfast…
I also do poha aim lataly.. Sema click da..
Neen dan mechikanum en picsa.. anyways thanks dear
This is one of the regular breakfasts that showed up on dining table when growing up. I have this on my list of thus week. Yes, it uses filling breakfast.