Chinese Style Poha

This poha is full of flavors - a Chinese fusion - that would be a comforting and satisfying meal for the entire family. This can be made in 30 minutes and is loaded with veggies - perfect for weeknights or weekends - easy and tasty! Poha makes this meal a lighter one.

Fried rice is always a favorite one. Not only in our home, I guess. Though fried rice can be made with leftover rice too, we don't make too much extra to make a meal. Cooking the rice to the perfect texture and making it may not sound great after a long day.Wait! there is an alternative to that. POHA! Yes, Poha works great and it soaks in five minutes. This is a game changer. Soak the poha with a little water when you chop the veggies, and this helps in saving time to bring the dinner to the table in 30 minutes. Isn't it amazing?

Poha is flattened rice flakes. A couple of things to note while using to note while using poha. Poha comes in a few varieties - thin, thick, and extra thick. Thin poha is not suitable for this recipe. Thick and extra-thick poha works great. This recipe uses thick poha. It needs a couple of tablespoons of water after washing. If extra thick poha is used, add a little more water to soak the poha. Now, perfect soaked poha is ready to make a great fried poha meal! Plain or red rice poha can be used.

It is a great idea to shred the carrots which help in cooking faster. Purple or green cabbage can be used, or a mixture of both will also work. Red and/or green peppers, chopped fine works. Chopping these veggies and ginger and garlic may take a max of 12-15 minutes and this time, poha can be soaked, sesame seeds can be toasted. If you have pre-cut veggies, it reduces the prep time.

Some of the easy dinner ideas from the blog:

Instant Buckwheat Dosa

Instant Broken Wheat Idli/Godhuma Rava Idli

Kodhuma Dosa

Arisi Upma

I am linking this to Thusrday Favorite Things, Blogging Marathon, and Full Plate Thursday.

Ingredients

Serves 4

Thick poha - 3 cups

Ginger - 2 tbsp, finely minced

Garlic - 2 tbsp, finely minced

Green onions - 2 or 3, sliced

Cabbage - 1.5 cups, chopped

Bell pepper - 1 cup, chopped

Carrots - 1 cup, shredded

Salt - 1 tsp

Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

White pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

Soy sauce - 1 tbsp

Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp

Tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp

Sesame seeds - 1.5 tbsp, toasted

Oil - 3 tbsp

Method

Wash and soak the thick poha in about 2-3 tablespoons of water. Let it sit aside for 5 minutes.

The poha would have absorbed water and would have swelled like this. 

Heat oil in a big pan. Add th ginger and garlic, saute for 30-40 seconds. Add the veggies and saute for about 6 minutes, till they are crisp tender.

Add salt, black pepper powder, white pepper powder, chilli sauce, ketchup, and soy sauce. Mix and cook for a minute.

Add the soaked poha, mix thoroughly.

Lower the flame, cover and let it cook in steam for about 4-5 minutes. Fluff it up.

Add the green onions, cilantro, and sesame seeds. Gently mix.

Serve hot.