We served the citizens of Ane gaon this dish when we organized our very first event to raise awareness about health there. This typical traditional Maharashtrian dish is usually made with poha, chopped onions, green chillies, grated coconut, peanuts, salt and sugar. This is then tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves, garnished with coriander and grated coconut and served for breakfast or as an evening snack. Dhania-jeera powder is added to it for added flavour in some communities. We served chopped green chillies on the side (green chillies are not part of the recipe below) because most people in rural areas love chillies with their food.
The variation we have shared is usually promoted by those following the Natural Diet System as a great dish to introduce people to a raw vegan diet. We ask people who want to reverse diseases to avoid the poha and peanuts till they are free of their ailment. The portion size of this dish seems to be huge once it’s made, but we must remember that most of the ingredients are mostly water and fiber. So, even if it looks like a lot of food to eat in one go, you can have it as a main meal of the day, instead of breakfast or a snack, and take your time to enjoy it.
Serves 1
Time required: 15-20 minutes (time for soaking the peanuts is not included)
Ingredients
- 1 cup thick poha
- 1 medium sized cucumber
- ½ medium sized carrot
- ½ capsicum
- 1 medium sized tomato
- ½ medium sized apple
- ½ pomegranate
- ½ medium sized onion
- a handful of chopped or shredded cabbage
- ¼ cup freshly grated coconut
- ¼ cup coriander leaves
- ¼ cup curry leaves
- 1 tsp dhania-jeera powder
- ½ lemon
- ¼ cup grams ground nuts
- ½ tsp rock salt (optional)
Method
- Soak the peanuts overnight. Rinse and drain them in the morning and put them in a large mixing bowl.
- Wash and rinse the poha once and leave to drain in a colander for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
- While the poha is in the colander, chop the cucumber, carrot, capsicum, tomato, and apple into small cubes the size you prefer and add them to the peanuts in the mixing bowl.
- Remove the pomegranate seeds and add them, the shredded cabbage and the coconut to the chopped ingredients in the mixing bowl.
- Chop the onion, coriander and curry leaves and add these to the chopped ingredients too.
- Add the dhania-jeera powder and salt, if using, to the ingredients and squeeze the juice of the lemon into it. Mix all these ingredients well.
- Add the damp poha and mix gently.
- Garnish with a few peanuts, grated coconut and coriander leaves and serve.
NOTE: You can add any other vegetable or fruit like guava, banana, pear, red or yellow bell peppers, snake gourd, sponge gourd, ridge gourd, purple cabbage, beetroot, etc. Let your imagination loose and have a great time trying out the variations.
