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October 12, 2008

Tambda Phovva Usli



My love for upma is quite well known to you all. My love for poha is not so well known. Then again, maybe it is. I had not eaten this plain jane amchi version of poha until just before my wedding. I was staying with a cousin and she'd made this for breakfast. I was taken by surprise by the pristine white colour of the dish. I expected it to be very bland, but that wasn't the case.


A few weeks ago, a Malayali colleague of mine was about to go to Kerala to bring back his wife and newborn son. I asked him to bring back some rice flakes made with Rosematta rice. He found it in the local Kalkaji market here and brought it for me. Since then, I have been seeing packets in my local supermarket. While he told me to make the sweet coconut-jaggery dish, Aval Nanachathu, with this variety of poha, I decided to make the amchi Phovva Usli. This nice shade of pink replaced pristine white, but the dish was as full of flavour as I had expected it to be.

1 cup Matta Rice Flakes, soaked for 10 minutes and drained

1 tsp Oil

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1/2 tsp Urad Dal

2 Green Chillies, slit

1-2 Red Chillies

7-8 Curry Leaves

1/2 tsp Sugar

1 tbsp Coconut, scraped

Salt to taste


Heat the oil in a pan and add the urad dal. When it turns light brown, add the mustard. When the mustard splutters, add the asafoetida, curry leaves and red and green chillies. After about a minute, add the drained rice flakes.


Dissolve the sugar and salt in a little water and sprinkle this water over the rice flakes. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and add the coconut. Enjoy it with a cup of tea or coffee.

5 comments:

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

We make this version a lot at home. It does tatse very good.
And aval nanchathu is an all time favourite in Kerala. Its great when you have to find something quickly to feed a lot of hungry mouths. :)

Divya Kudua said...

Phovva usli is a favorite anytime snack.Have never tried tambda pov version..yours looks nice!!

Unknown said...

I love the nice pink color..Havent had it though..

KonkaniBlogger said...

Never knew that Tambdo Phovu also is available. Usli looks great..

pelicano said...

How Beautiful! I like the sound of this simple poha- the rosematta has a few more nutrients than white rice anyway, plus chillies count as a veggie, right? :-) Works for me!