Instant Poha/Aval Idli 

(Steamed South Indian Dumplings)

These were from the recipe of Hebbar's Kitchen. These are "instant," because the batter is ready to steam in about a half-hour, versus a much longer traditional process of soaking, grinding, and fermenting legumes and rice.

Poha/Aval are rice flakes, pounded flat, which cook more quickly than regular rice. In this case, just to be safe, I put the flakes in a coffee/spice grinder first, before soaking them in yogurt. Another key ingredient here is rice rawa/idli rava, for which I used Cream of Rice (as I believe it's the same). This is also soaked in yogurt. That, along with salt, water, and "a pinch" of baking soda, makes up the batter. The trick is, to get the pinch of baking soda right, as that helps lighten the batter. (It can help to watch a video of the recipe, where available.)

As this was a new method and recipe for me, I decided to steam it the first time on the stove, using 2 different kinds of non-stick egg poachers (not sponsored). Now that I have a better idea of the process and results, I can try it again, with an idli-rack. ... These Idlis were light, and my favorite way to enjoy them, was with chutney powder and coconut oil. 

Hebbar's Kitchen Website, Poha Idli/Instant Poha Idli Recipe/Aval Idli Recipe

Hebbar's Kitchen YouTube, Poha Idli/Instant Poha Idli Recipe/Aval Idli Recipe

Baked Samosas (Indian Savory Turnovers)

The shell is a (preservative-free) store-bought tortilla, and the filling is Aval/Poha Upma (Indian pounded-rice with veggies). (For more details on the Upma, please see my recent post.) I used a flour-water paste to seal the folded tortillas, and baked the Samosas at 350 F for about 25 minutes. It's fairly easy to make Samosas like this, with ready-made tortillas and whatever dry leftovers you can find in the fridge.

Aval/Poha Upma 

(Indian Pounded Rice Pilaf)

This is a dish from Maharashtra, India, made with aval/poha (Indian pounded rice), mustard and cumin seeds, frozen peas & carrots, potatoes, turmeric, and salt and seasonings. The recipe is from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking. It's good for a nice light meal, with yogurt. Instead of adding lemon juice to the complete finished dish, I like to squeeze some fresh lemon juice on the portion I'm about to eat. The 1st pic is the veggies before the grain was added in. Yummy! 

Chivda (Indian Snack Mix)

This is my version of chivda (Indian snack mix). I was inspired by Tickling Palates Instagram photo of last Oct. 25 and her recipe for Cornflakes Mixture/Corn Flakes Chivda, as well as by MadhurasRecipe Marathi on YouTube. I used an organic "frosted flakes cereal" that's a little sweet, but works well here, as well as kettle-cooked potato chips (40% less fat). First, I pan-roasted a cup of aval/poha (beaten flat rice) and some ground cashews in a little oil, with some turmeric, onion powder (as I didn't have hing/asafetida), salt, and sugar. Next, I mixed in the cereal, and then potato chips. It was delicious!  Salty and sweet, with a little something else, and also crunchy.

Tickling Palates Website, Cornflakes Mixture Recipe 

MadhurasRecipe Marathi YouTube, Patal Pohe Chivda 

MadhurasRecipe Marathi YouTube, Bhajake Pohe Chivda