Puli Aval Upma / Tamarind Poha Recipe

Aval / Poha / Chivda / beaten rice? whatever you call it, is one of my favourite dishes from my mom’s kitchen that I miss much now. One of those dishes that i look forward to on Krishna Jayanthi plus any random Sunday evening when mom is home!! As simple as it seems, it is actually pretty difficult to get the rite consistency in the Aval when making the upma. Almost always i make it too soggy or too raw. The texture of the Poha is the basis for the yumminess of this recipe i guess. So this one’s a special from my mom’s kitchen but made by your’s truly, as per given instructions!

Puli Aval Upma / Tamarind Poha Recipe  

Ingredients 
Aval / Flattened rice – 1 cup
Tamarind – lemon-sized ball / tsp of paste 
Green chilli – 1 slit in the middle (can be replaced with red chilli powder / sambar powder) 
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Channa dal – 1 tsp (Can also add peanuts or cashew nuts)
Urud dal – 1/2 tsp

Coconut (grated) – a handful (optional)

Method

Make a paste in water out of the tamarind / mix the paste in water.
Add the red chilli / sambar powder if adding right now along with turmeric powder and salt.
Soak the poha in the this water and leave aside for exactly 10 minutes.
Make sure you do not leave it any longer than that, it might turn out soggy.
In a kadai, splutter mustard seeds in oil, add the dals / nuts for seasoning and fry.
If you are using green chilli, you can add it in the oil now.

Now bring in the tamarind aval and mix well, garnish with freshly grated coconut if like.
Serve hot as a quick evening snack!!

If you want a bit of crunch to the Poha, you can fry a bit of un-soaked Poha or finely-chopped onion while frying the dals!