Last Updated on December 14, 2020 by Chef Mireille
Coriander Matar Poha – Flattened Rice with Cilantro & Green Peas
A quick and easy South Indian breakfast that comes together within 15 minutes! Vegan & Gluten Free!
It’s time for the monthly Food Blogger Recipe Swap again and this month I am cooking from Sasmita’s site, First Timer Cook. She has a great variety of Indian recipes, including many regional recipes from the different states of India. If you area food blogger and would like to join our monthly swap, please join our facebook group over here.
It’s funny how sometimes certain foods we associate with people. No matter how many times you eat the food after that initial introduction, whenever you are making it or eating it, that person will always come to mind. Well, that is how it is with me for poha and Pradnya.
One of the amazing gifts that blogging has brought me are all of the amazing friends from every corner of the globe. A few years ago I was country hopping throughout Southeast Asia with some friends and it just so happened that the cheapest return flight home went through Mumbai. I was returning home solo as my friends were going home via a few days in Paris. As I’ve already visited, I did not want to pay the extra fare just for a few days there. There was no way I could go through Mumbai without stopping for a few days to meet a few of my blogger friends from there.
As soon as I told them I would be coming, Pradnya was so nice to offer me to stay with her. It was so much nicer than staying in some stuffy hotel. One morning, I watcher her put together this poha for our breakfast. When I saw how fast and easy this breakfast came together, I knew I had to start including this easy and delicious breakfast into my diet at home. Now, whenever I make poha like this version with Fenugreek (Methi) and Mint, I immediately think of Pradnya and the amazing time we had together in Mumbai.
If you’d like to read more about all the delicious food I had in Mumbai, you can ready about my visit to the street food capital of Mumbai – Juhu Beach – over here or about the amazing brunch we had at The Renaissance Hotel or more delicious food we ate over here as well as the delicious Vegetarian Gujarati thali we had at Samrat. We packed a lot of eating into those 3 days!
I was so happy when I saw this recipe for Poha on Sasmita’s site. Its been a while since I made it and as soon as I saw it, a smile came to my face thinking of Mumbai and Pradnya. I only made a slight change as I somehow didn’t realize I had run out of green chiles, so instead of grinding the chile with the coconut, I just added some red chile powder instead.
So all this talk about poha. Some of you might be wondering what the heck is poha and definitely want to know more, if breakfast can me made quickly, easily and deliciously.
What is poha?
Poha is flattened rice. You will find it in Indian markets like Patel Brothers. There are usually two varieties sold, thick poha and thin poha. I prefer the thick poha as it still maintains some body to it. It is used a lot in northeast Indian cuisine, as well as Nepal/Tibet/Bhutan and that region. In other parts of India, it is usually reserved for breakfast or chaat (snacks).
Poha, also known as flattened rice, beaten rice or rice flakes is produced by dehusking the rice and then the rice is flattened into flakes by machine.
Cooking Poha
Poha is easily reconstituted by soaking in warm water from the faucet for 2-3 minutes, once the flakes have softened. Drain to get rid of excess water. Stir fry as desired. You can even use it as a substitute for making fried rice if you are in the mood for fried rice, but don’t have any cold rice at the ready.
Another food association Pradnya gave me was having my poha with dates. She always served dates with breakfast and now I have grown into that habit quite regularly. However, when I have poha it is not optional – in my mind, dates is the required accompaniment.
This breakfast is easy to whip up if you have overnight guests and everyone can eat it as it’s both Vegan and Gluten Free.
…now let’s see how easy it is to make Coriander Matar Poha – Flattened Rice with Cilantro & Green Peas
Coriander Matar Poha – Flattened Rice with Cilantro & Green Peas
Ingredients
- 1 cup flattened rice poha
- 1 tablespoon frozen grated coconut or freshly grated coconut
- 1/2 tablespoon grated jaggery
- 1/8 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seed
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon urad dal split black gram
- curry leaves from 1 sprig
- a pinch of asafetida
- 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon red chile powder
- 1/4 cup frozen green peas
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine poha with warm water to cover.
- Leave for 2-3 minutes until softened.
- Transfer to a sieve/colander and leave to dry while you get all of your other ingredients together.
- In a coffee/spice grinder, combine coconut, jaggery, cilantro and lemon juice. Grind to a paste.
- In a wok or large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil.
- Add mustard seed. As soon as they stop popping, add cumin seed, urad dal, curry leaves and asoefetida.
- After 10 seconds, add turmeric, red chile powder and green peas.
- Stir fry for 2-3 minutes, until peas are heated through.
- Add poha and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Add cilantro paste and stir fry for another 2 minutes until well combined.
- Add salt and stir to combine.
- Serve with dates.
Nutrition
Please check out the other Recipe Swap Recipes!
- Azefa – Ethiopian Lentil Salad
- Lemon Rice
- Sindhi Kokhi – Onion Flatbread
- Cream Cheese Cucumber Sandwich
- Black Eyed Peas Beets Salad
- Turnip Beetroot Radish Coleslaw
- Saag Aloo – Vegan Spinach Potato Curry
- Yellow Split Pea Fritters
- Coriander Matar Poha – Flattened Rice with Coriander and Green Peas
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Mango Papaya Orange Smoothie
Ready to make this recipe? I would love to see your photos! Tag me on Instagram @chefmireille #theschizochef with your pics!
This recipe looks delicious. A tasty dish!
thanks – you should try poha if you haven’t yet
thank you it is – you should definitely try it!
I like matar in poha. Adding ground cilantro is a nice twist to this poha preparation.
yes the coconut cilantro masala was so flavorful
Mireille some blogger friends become really good friends. I too have made a coupe of good friends through blogging. Coming to the so tempting and green poha, what a wonderful recipe to add coriander. Something different from the way I usually make them. Definitely will try out this recipe. As for the recipe swap challenge, will join back as soon as my traveling is over. Hubby and I are traveling a lot this year.
great – looking forward to you joining us back again!
This is the way we make poha in U.P when we have plenty of fresh peas .. Loved the green color with the addition of peas and coriander in it..
Wonderful share..
Now I wish I had joined you guys in Mumbai. Next time. I love poha and coriander leaves being my favourite herb we are going to sample your preparation soon.
I would have so much loved to meet you. Hopefully on my next trip to India I will get to meet you or you guys can come visit me in NYC?
I love the sound of this poha – I’m sure it was flavourful and absolutely delicious! Love the beautiful green colour too. 🙂
I make several different poha versions, but never tried this one with peas and coriander. Should do that soon!
That looks absolutely lovely! I’m intrigued about this as a breakfast – I’ve never been a fan of traditional, American breakfast foods, so trying something like this sounds like a good idea to me! 🙂
I also think that here in America we eat too many sweet things for breakfast. I love the many options you have for savory breakfasts besides eggs when you look at cuisines outside of America.
Matar poha looks so delicious. You made this perfect. It makes a great breakfast on busy mornings
it does – My favorite think about poha is how quickly it cooks up
I’ve never heard of poha, and now I want it! I’m going to be on the hunt for it at my local Indian market. THanks for the introduction.
This dish is so beautiful! I love the color!!! I hope I can find all of the ingredients……. cannot wait to try. Thank you!
Any Indian market will have if you live near one if not they are also available online Patel Brothers also has an online store
Me and my daughter love poha dishes, and this one is one of them. Such a flavourful and tasty recipe and can be done in just a few minutes. Informative post.
yes that is what I love about poha – so quick and easy!
Poha is surely a quick and easy recipe for breakfast. I loved reading about your Mumbai travel. The part about making good friends from blogging is so true and I can so relate to it. Love this recipe with cilantro and would love to try this soon!
yes I am only sad you moved away so we only got to meet once 🙁
This is surely a quick and easy recipe for breakfast option. I am glad that you have picked up this flavorful poha from my blog to try. The pictures are so beautiful and I am sure you thoroughly enjoyed this.
This looks so good and I love to learn about cooking for different cultures!
So do I- I’m sure you would love this one!
I love Indian food, but have never heard of this dish before. I look forward to giving it a try!
This is one of those traditional home style foods you’d be hard pressed to find in a restaurant but so quick and easy you should definitely try it.
Looks delicious! I’ve never heard of flattened rice.
Glad to introduce you to a new ingredient. I’m sure you’re gonna love it when you try it
This rice looks so good and well seasoned! I love cilantro and love that you’ve added it to this dish!
Cilantro is also one of my favorite herbs
This is such a lovely recipe with coriander and peas. Lovely dish which can be served for breakfast or at any point of the day. Awesome
thanks yes – it is so great when you need something quick and easy!
Matar poha looks absolutely delicious and very easy recipe to try for breakfast.Lovely share.
thank you – yes it is a quick and simple breakfast!