Dadpe Pohe| Beaten Rice (Poha) Salad

The husband and I absolutely love poha. We make many different versions of poha (aka beaten rice, flattened rice or rice flakes, aval in Tamil), for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Yes, that’s how much we love it!

I’m always on the lookout for new styles in which to cook poha, so I got all intrigued when I read about Dadpe Pohe recently. Dadpe Pohe is basically a Maharashtrian specialty, and is consumed in some parts of Goa as well. The unique thing about this dish is that it is uncooked – except for the tempering that goes into it. This makes it a poha salad, eh?

The term ‘dadpe‘ means ‘weighing down’. Typically, this dish is prepared and placed in a bowl, covered with a small plate, with a weight (maybe a bag of beans or a pestle or a couple of large potatoes) is placed on top of it. The lid presses down on the various ingredients, releasing juices from them, allowing the poha to soak them in and become flavourful.

Inspired by an online recipe, I went on to prepare dadpe pohe too and, my, just how beautiful it turned out! We are amazed at just how a dish can be so, so, so easy to make and so delicious too!

Here’s how I made the dadpe pohe.

Recipe Source: Vadani Kaval Gheta

Ingredients (serves 3):

1. 2 cups thin poha or rice flakes
2. Salt, to taste
3. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
4. 1 small onion
5. A few stalks of fresh coriander leaves
6. 1 green chilli
7. 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
8. 1 small carrot
9. 1 tablespoon oil
10. 1/4 cup groundnuts
11. 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
12. A pinch of asafoetida
13. 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
14. Juice of 1 lemon or to taste
15. 2 tablespoons jaggery or to taste

Method:

1. Chop the onion, green chilli and coriander finely. Grate the carrot finely. Keep aside.
2. Dry roast the peanuts on medium flame, till they get crispy. Transfer to a plate and keep aside.
3. Wash the poha under running water a couple of times. Place in a colander and allow all the excess water to drain out. When the drained poha is moist but not soggy, add the salt and turmeric powder to it. Mix well, gently. Transfer the poha to a large mixing bowl.
4. Heat the oil in a pan. Add in the mustard seeds, and let them pop. Now, add the asafoetida, cumin seeds and groundnuts, and let them stay in for a couple of seconds.
5. Add the chopped onion, green chilli and coriander, the grated carrot and coconut, jaggery and lemon juice to taste to the mixing bowl. Add in the mustard-asafoetida-cumin-groudnuts tempering to the mixing bowl, too. Mix well, gently.
6. Close the mixing bowl with a lid, and let it rest for just about 2 minutes, for the poha to absorb the flavours from the rest of the ingredients. Serve immediately.

Notes:

1. There are a variety of ways to make dadpe pohe. The technique differs from one household to another. Here, I have used a method that appealed to me.
2. Most households use sugar to make dadpe pohe. A few use jaggery instead of sugar, though. I have done the latter.
3. Don’t let the poha sit around for too long after mixing up all the ingredients, as this will make it very soggy and alter the taste. Make sure you serve the dadpe pohe after just a couple of minutes of resting.
4. I don’t think grated carrot is typically used in the making of dadpe pohe. I have used it here, to make it more nutritious. You can use finely chopped tomatoes, instead, too.
5. Here, I have used thin poha from Bhagyalakshmi. This poha is slightly thicker than ‘paper poha‘ or ‘nylon poha‘ or the poha that is used to make chivda. This kind of poha needs to be washed and drained before being used in cooking. If you are using ‘paper poha‘ or ‘nylon poha‘ instead, there is no need to wash and drain it. Just mix together all the ingredients with the raw poha in that case, and let it rest just for a few seconds before serving.
6. Some Maharashtrian households use coconut water for soaking or washing the poha, as required. I am sure that would lend a beautiful flavour to the dadpe pohe. Here, I have used just plain water to wash and drain the poha.

You like? I hope you will try this dadpe pohe too, and that you will love it as much as we did!

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This post is for the Shhhhh Cooking Secretly Challenge. The theme for this month is ‘Recipes from Goa’. I was paired with Anu, who writes about food at Ente Thattukada. Anu gave me two secret ingredients – jaggery and coconut – and I chose to use them to make Dadpe Pohe.

 

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