Easy Puli Aval Upma | Tamarind Poha
Quick & delicious tamarind-flavored upma with flattened rice. Learn how to make this easy puli aval upma with the step-wise pictures.
Servings: 5
Calories: 67kcal
Equipment
- Saucepan or kadai
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups flattened rice aval/poha
- 2 tsp tamarind paste
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp hing
- 1.25 tsp salt
- ⅓ cup water add two more tbsps if you feel the poha is dry
- 1 tbsp oil
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tsps slivered almonds
- 2 dried red chilies
- 5 curry leaves
Instructions
- Wash the flattened rice thoroughly and drain the water.
- In a small bowl, add the tamarind paste, turmeric powder, salt, and asafoetida. Add ⅓ cup of water and mix well to form a paste.
- Now add the tamarind water paste to the rinsed poha and mix well. I mix it with my hands so that the poha combines well with the tamarind mixture. Let this poha sit for 8 to 10 minutes.
- After about 7 minutes, heat a pan or kadai and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, dried green chilies, curry leaves, and slivered almonds. Let the mustard seeds splutter.
- Reduce the heat to low, and add the poha. Gently mix and cook for 2 to 3 but not more than that. Turn off the heat and serve right away!
Notes
- Adjust the red chilies and salt according to your taste preference. You can use white poha as well, but make sure to use the thick variety.
- Instead of almonds, you can use peanuts. If using peanuts, roast the peanuts first until it turns crunchy, then start the tempering process.
- For red variety poha, you need ⅓ to ½ cup of water. Do not add more than that. Add extra water only if you feel the poha is dry and hard.
- The soaking time differs according to the variety. But for both red and white poha (thick variety), I have never let the poha sit for more than 12 minutes.
- Instead of tamarind paste, soak gooseberry sized tamarind in ½ cup of water and extract ⅓ to ½ cup of juice and add the salt, turmeric, and hing to it and mix that with the poha.
- Do not soak the poha in water. Wash and sprinkle water. Let it sit for 5 minutes and at the maximum 10 minutes but not more than that.
- Do not overmix the poha also mix it very gently. Soaked upma tends to break, but 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
Calories: 67kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 585mg | Potassium: 87mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 209IU | Vitamin C: 46mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 2mg