Poha reworked with foxtail millet rava — turmeric-yellow, studded with peanuts and potato, lifted with lemon and a fistful of coriander.

Ingredients

From the TrooFoodz pantry

• Sprouted Foxtail Millet Rava 1 cup

Fresh

• Potato, small dice 1
• Onion, finely chopped 1
• Raw peanuts ⅓ cup
• Green chillies, slit 2
• Mustard seeds 1 tsp
• Curry leaves 1 sprig
• Turmeric powder ½ tsp
• Sugar ½ tsp
• Groundnut oil 3 tbsp
• Lemon 1
• Coriander leaves, chopped 3 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Steam the grain

   Rinse the Sprouted Foxtail Millet Rava, drain, and steam for eight minutes until the grains are just tender and separate. Spread out to cool.

2. Fry the peanuts

   Fry the peanuts in oil until they darken and smell roasted, then lift them out and reserve. They must stay crunchy.

3. Temper the pan

   In the same oil, pop the mustard seeds, add curry leaves and green chilli, then the diced potato.

4. Cook the potato

   Cover and cook the potato on low for six minutes until the pieces are tender and lightly coloured at the corners.

5. Add the onion

   Stir in onion, turmeric, sugar and salt and cook until the onion softens and the turmeric loses its raw smell.

6. Fold gently

   Add the steamed grain and fold with a light hand so the grains stay separate. Warm through for two minutes.

7. Finish bright

   Off the heat, squeeze in the lemon, return the peanuts, and scatter over the coriander.

Why this works

Steaming the rava rather than boiling it keeps the grains discrete, which is the whole character of poha. The half teaspoon of sugar is not for sweetness but to round out the turmeric and lemon, a standard move in Maharashtrian kitchens. Adding the lemon off the heat preserves its volatile aroma.

Make it your own

• Sprouted Foxtail Millet Rava → Sprouted Little Millet Rava Softer grain; steam a minute less.
• Peanuts → Cashew halves Sweeter and richer, less rustic.
• Potato → Diced sweet potato Sweeter and softer, cooks a little faster.