Improvised Poha

This is an improvised version of pohe using marination to give added flavor to the poha.

Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 cup poha / chura (the flat variety)
1/4 cup groundnuts (peanuts / moongfali / shengdana)
2 lemons (juiced)
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
2 nos green chillies (finely chopped)
2-3 nos. cloves
2-3 nos. cardamom
salt to taste

Take poha in a vessel and wash it twice by filling the vessel with water and then draining the water out. Fill the vessel again with water and leave the poha soaked for 2 minutes. Strain and squeeze the poha a bit to drain the water out (care should be taken not to squeeze out too much water else poha will be hard, on the other hand too much water remains will lead to loss of texture and sogginess). Sprinkle garam masala powder and add lemon juice to the poha. Mix well and set aside for 10 minutes. (1/4 teaspoon of crushed peppercorns can be added for a spicier preparation).

For the groundnuts, the ideal thing is if one can get ones that have been roasted with their shells on and break the shells to collect roasted seeds. If this not possible then raw groundnut seeds with shells removed could be roasted in a frying pan. No oil is needed for this but care should be taken to stir occasionally so as to avoid blackening.

For the main preparation, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan. Add cloves, cardamom, chillies, turmeric and cumin. After a minute add the onions and saute. Add the marinated poha and salt to the pan and mix everything up. Cook for 2 minutes.