This Poha chivda | Poha Namkeen is sweet and spicy, basically an Indianized version of a trail mix. Learn how to make this healthier, guilt-free snack with few teaspoons of oil which is just as good at the traditionally prepared, deep-fried poha chivda.
WHAT IS POHA?
Poha or aval is nothing but rice that has been flattened into flakes. It is also known as beaten rice. There are two kinds of poha that are available in the market- thin and thick poha. For this chivda, we will be using thin poha, so it is also known as patal poha chivda .
Thick poha (jada poha) is used to make another breakfast dish, that is also popular in the Maharashtrian cuisine, Kanda poha . That is soft and moist as opposed to this poha chivda which is crisp. You can even make crispy chivda with thick poha variety, but I prefer the ones made with thin poha. Chivda or chiwda or even pauva no chevdo as it is known in Gujarati is generally made in a large batch and stored, it lasts for many days, and is a great option for snacking!
HOW TO MAKE POHA CHIVDA | POHA NAMKEEN?
For this chivda mixture , thin p oha is combined with dry fruits, coconut, and raisins and tempered with mustard seeds, curry leaves, and few other ingredients.
Now, traditionally each ingredient is deep fried and then everything is assembled, but keeping the health quotient in mind, I’ve dry roasted most of the ingredients and used little oil for the tempering. The roasted poha chivda was still as great and crisp as the fried poha chivda 🙂
You can also make chivda in the microwave by roasting each ingredient separately in intervals. You may coat the ingredients with a little oil if you wish too.
This poha chivda recipe was shared by my mum in law’s Maharashtrian neighbor. I’ve adjusted the quantities to suit our taste buds. There is no fixed rule to use these quantities, you can add more or less of any ingredient and customize it totally to suit your palate.
Each household probably has their own little variation to this poha chivda . Mostly this is prepared as a savory snack during Diwali, along with other savory snacks like chakli, masala sev, gathia etc which is distributed along with other delicious sweets to family, friends, and neighbors.
This time I thought of making some at home. I like to munch on these savory snacks along with my evening cuppa masala chai.
Moreover my son is a big fan of this poha chivda too, actually, he likes to pick up the peanuts from the chivda. So I’ve added a lot of peanuts and all the other dry fruits. I’ve not made this very spicy, coz as I said my son eats it too. So if you like a spicy chivda, you could add more green chillies in the tempering.
This recipe makes a pretty healthy chivda , as there is minimal oil that is used, so you can feel good about snacking on this 🙂
You can also make other poha snacks such as poha cutlets, poha idlis or add them to your regular idli batter while grinding rice to make softer idlis . In Goa, we also use this poha to make another sweet tea time snack. Simply mix soaked poha with grated coconut, jaggery, and cardamom. Tastes amazing!!
Do try this easy chivda recipe this Diwali or simply make some to snack on 🙂
ENJOYED THIS ROASTED POHA CHIVDA RECIPE? HERE ARE SOME MORE DIWALI SWEETS TO TRY
- Karanji
- Rava laddu
- Kesar Peda
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE PATAL POHA CHIVDA | POHA CHIWDA | ROASTED POHA NAMKEEN
1.Dry roast the thin poha (flattened rice) in batches in a sufficiently big heavy-bottomed pot or kadai. Do not brown the poha. Set it aside to cool on a plate. Now roast all the ingredients one at a time, first the peanuts, then dalia dal, cashew nuts. Add about a teaspoon of oil, and roast the raisins until they puff up, remove and set aside. Finally, roast the dried coconut slices. Remove all the dried fruits and nuts in a plate. Set aside.
2.In the meanwhile prepare the tempering, Add 1 tablespoon oil in the same kadai, once it’s hot enough, splutter mustard seeds, add in fennel seeds next followed by chopped green chillies and curry leaves. Fry on hot heat until the curry leaves and green chillies crisp up, make sure they don’t change color.
3.Switch off the heat, and add in the dry spices – salt, sugar, turmeric. Mix well.
4.Return the pot to heat, and add in the dry roasted poha and roasted nuts, dalia dal, dried coconut slices and raisins. Mix well stirring continuously for 2-3 minutes on medium-low heat. Switch off the heat. The chivda will be slightly chewy when it’s warm, it will crisp up upon cooling completely. Leave it in the pan itself for extra crispiness, or transfer to a wide plate and let it cool. Store in an airtight container once it is completely cool.
HOW TO MAKE POHA CHIVDA | POHA NAMKEEN?
Poha Chivda With Thin Flattened Rice | Poha Namkeen
Ingredients1x2x3x
Measuring cup used, 1 Cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 3 cups thin poha
- 1 cup peanuts
- 3 tbsp roasted split dalia dal
- 1/2 cup cashew nuts, halved
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup half inch dried coconut slices
For the tempering
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 to 1 tbsp fine sugar
- Sprig of curry leaves
- 2 to 3 green chillies, finely chopped, adjust as per desired heat
- 2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp oil
Instructions
- Dry roast the thin poha (flattened rice) in batches in a sufficiently big heavy-bottomed pot or kadai. Do not brown the poha. Set it aside to cool on a plate. Now roast all the ingredients one at a time, first the peanuts, then dalia dal, cashew nuts. Add about a teaspoon of oil, and roast the raisins until they puff up, remove and set aside. Finally, roast the dried coconut slices. Remove all the dried fruits and nuts in a plate. Set aside.
- In the meanwhile prepare the tempering, Add 1 tablespoon oil in the same kadai, once it’s hot enough, splutter mustard seeds, add in fennel seeds next followed by chopped green chillies and curry leaves. Fry on hot heat until the curry leaves and green chillies crisp up, make sure they don’t change color.
- Switch off the heat, and add in the dry spices - salt, sugar, turmeric. Mix well.
- Return the pot to heat, and add in the dry roasted poha and roasted nuts, dalia dal, dried coconut slices and raisins. Mix well stirring continuously for 2-3 minutes on medium-low heat. Switch off the heat. The chivda will be slightly chewy when it’s warm, it will crisp up upon cooling completely. Leave it in the pan itself for extra crispiness, or transfer to a wide plate and let it cool. Store in an airtight container once it is completely cool.
I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to share your feedback with photos and suggestions to me at aromaticessence77@gmail.com
You can also follow me on :
Facebook @ Aromaticessence
Pinterest @ Aromatic Essence
Instagram @ aromatic_essence77
Twitter @ freda_dias
Regards,
Freda
Poha Chivda With Thin Flattened Rice | Poha Namkeen
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 Cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 3 cups thin poha
- 1 cup peanuts
- 3 tbsp roasted split dalia dal
- 1/2 cup cashew nuts, halved
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup half inch dried coconut slices
For the tempering
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 to 1 tbsp fine sugar
- Sprig of curry leaves
- 2 to 3 green chillies, finely chopped, adjust as per desired heat
- 2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp oil
Instructions
- Dry roast the thin poha (flattened rice) in batches in a sufficiently big heavy-bottomed pot or kadai. Do not brown the poha. Set it aside to cool on a plate. Now roast all the ingredients one at a time, first the peanuts, then dalia dal, cashew nuts. Add about a teaspoon of oil, and roast the raisins until they puff up, remove and set aside. Finally, roast the dried coconut slices. Remove all the dried fruits and nuts in a plate. Set aside.
- In the meanwhile prepare the tempering, Add 1 tablespoon oil in the same kadai, once it’s hot enough, splutter mustard seeds, add in fennel seeds next followed by chopped green chillies and curry leaves. Fry on hot heat until the curry leaves and green chillies crisp up, make sure they don’t change color.
- Switch off the heat, and add in the dry spices - salt, sugar, turmeric. Mix well.
- Return the pot to heat, and add in the dry roasted poha and roasted nuts, dalia dal, dried coconut slices and raisins. Mix well stirring continuously for 2-3 minutes on medium-low heat. Switch off the heat. The chivda will be slightly chewy when it’s warm, it will crisp up upon cooling completely. Leave it in the pan itself for extra crispiness, or transfer to a wide plate and let it cool. Store in an airtight container once it is completely cool.
Kesar peda is a delicious saffron infused milk fudge. Here’s an easy recipe to make delicious kesar peda this festive season!
Peda | Pedha | Penda | Pera is basically an Indian milk fudge, prepared from mawa/khoya ( milk solids) and sugar, mostly flavored with cardamom.
I can never get enough of these. If I eat one, I know I’m going to gobble up more. They are so addictive and my big sweet tooth can never get enough of these Indian milk sweets like kheer, carrot halwa, milk cake, faluda , milk toffee etc. Seriously yum!!
Peda is often prepared during various festivals in India like Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, Raksha Bandhan, and the likes, on auspicious occasions, during weddings, and sometimes these sweet treats are distributed to family, friends, and neighbors by kid’s parents upon achieving success and reaching milestones in school/college or upon the birth of a newborn. It is simply a really nice and sweet gesture of sharing your happiness with everyone.
Most Indian sweets use khoya/mawa as the core ingredient. Making mawa at home the traditional way is a rather lengthy and painstaking procedure. There are many ways of making it in a few minutes using the microwave. You could easily find a lot of quick recipes on the web to make mawa the easier way.
I simply used this ready-made milk-mawa powder which I purchased from the Indian grocery store and it works great. The end product is just like the ones you would get at a sweet mart in India 🙂 You could use regular khoya too, simply grate it (let it thaw if frozen) and follow the recipe.
Enjoy these yummy, homemade kesar pedas this festive season 🙂
- STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE KESAR PEDA RECIPE
- HOW TO MAKE KESAR PENDA?
- Kesar Peda Recipe| Kesar Penda
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE KESAR PEDA RECIPE
1.Soak saffron strands in 1 tablespoon of lukewarm milk for about 10 minutes.
2.Heat ghee in a non-stick pan. Once the ghee is warm, add in the milk, mawa powder, saffron infused milk, sugar & stir continuously to break any lumps.
3.The mixture will start bubbling. Keep stirring and scraping the sides to prevent the milk mixture from sticking at the bottom of the pan.
(After 5 minutes of stirring)
(After another 6 minutes of stirring)
4.When most of the moisture is lost, add in the cardamom powder. Mix well.
(After further 2 minutes of stirring)
5.After another 5-7 minutes, the mixture will almost form a dough. Pinch a small mixture and roll between your fingers to see if you can form a round smooth ball. be careful as the mixture is very hot. If you can form a ball, then switch off the heat, transfer the dough to a plate. If the mixture is still sticky then continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes on low heat. Once it is warm enough to handle, make pedas with greased hand. I used a fondant mold to create the flower shape.
HOW TO MAKE KESAR PENDA?
Kesar Peda Recipe| Kesar Penda
Ingredients1x2x3x
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 1 & 3/4 cup milk-mawa powder or 100 grams khoya, grated or crushed
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 6 tbsp sugar, adjust as per desired sweetness
- 1 tbsp lukewarm milk
- 12-15 strands of saffron
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 3/4 tsp green cardamom powder
Instructions
- Soak saffron strands in 1 tablespoon of lukewarm milk for about 10 minutes.
- Heat ghee in a non-stick pan. Once the ghee is warm, add in the milk, mawa powder, saffron infused milk, sugar & stir continuously to break any lumps.
- The mixture will start bubbling. Keep stirring and scraping the sides to prevent the milk mixture from sticking at the bottom of the pan.
- When most of the moisture is lost, add in the cardamom powder. Mix well.
- After another 5-7 minutes, the mixture will almost form a dough. Pinch a small mixture and roll between your fingers to see if you can form a round smooth ball. be careful as the mixture is very hot. If you can form a ball, then switch off the heat, transfer the dough to a plate. If the mixture is still sticky then continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes on low heat. Once it is warm enough to handle, make pedas with greased hand. I used a fondant mold to create the flower shape.
I would love to hear from you, please feel free to share your feedback with photos and suggestions to me at aromaticessence77@gmail.com
You can also follow me on :
Facebook @ Aromaticessence
Pinterest @ Aromatic Essence
Instagram @ aromatic_essence77
Twitter @ freda_dias
Regards,
Freda
*Recipe loosely adapted from here
