Ayurveda Veggie Rolled Rice Recipe (Ayurveda Veggie Poha/Powa)

This is a light, easy, delicious meal your whole family will enjoy.  

 Poha is a “flattened” rice dish, similar to rice pilaf, which is quick and easy to make. Poha is a dehusked rice which is flattened into dry rice flakes. When added to liquid (hot or cold), the poha flakes absorb the fluids making them expand and soften. Poha thickness can vary and can be used to suite various needs. It is eaten in India, Nepal and Bangladesh as a typical “fast food”, light meal, snack, or sweet. It is easy to travel with, pre-cooked or to use as an easy to travel camping or back-packing meal or snack.  You can find both white and red rice varieties available at Indian grocery stores.  Consider poha when appetite is low and you are looking for something quick, easy and delicious. Veggies and spices can be altered to better suite your constitution, health or seasonal needs. 

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup ghee

• 1 Tbs kalunji or mustard seeds

• 1 Tbs cumin seeds

• ¼ tsp hing or can omit if don't have or substitute with 1/4 cup chopped white or green onions

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 2 Tbs chopped ginger root chopped

• 10-20 curry leaves chopped

• 2 cups chopped vegetables of choice (yam, carrot, zucchini, asparagus, green beans-chopped very small, etc. 2-4 different types of veggies is good)

• 1-2 tsp garam masala or “Mum’s super spice”

• 1 ½ tsp salt (to taste)

• 1 Tbs brown sugar or sucanat (to taste)

• 3 cups-1 package powah (“beaten” rice available from Amazon or ishopindian.com)

• Juice of 1-2 limes (to taste)

• 2 handfuls of chopped cilantro leaves

Directions:

• Place poha in a colander and gently wash with running water, tossing with your hands to moisten, but not dissolve, rice flakes. (They should be mostly moist on the surface but still al dente in the center. Too moist will make a mushy finished dish.  Too dry will make a very chewy finished dish.  Better to under water rather than over water, as more moisture can be added later if necessary, but you cannot undo soggy poha)

• Heat ghee over high heat until surface shimmers

• Add kalunji/mustard seeds and sauté until they begin to pop

• Add cumin seeds, then hing (onion), then turmeric, then ½ of ginger and all of curry leaves.

• Add veggies and salt and stir to coat and then turn down heat to medium and cover with lid to capture moisture

• Add a few Tbs water and cook veggies under soft but not mushy

• Add sugar and stir to coat

• Turn heat to low

• Add moistened powah to oil/spice/veg mixture and stir to combine

• Sprinkle with remaining ginger

• Stir gently and mix well

• Remove from heat, add chopped cilantro leaves and lime juice to taste and mix until combined

• You can adjust taste as needed and garnish with chutneys such as cilantro, mint, or tamarind or all three =)

Poha will look like this when you take it out of its packaging to drizzle with water in the colander:

 Here's what the veggie will look like as you cook them:

Here's what poha garnished with cilantro chutney and tamarind chutney look like - yummm!:

Here's the brand you can get off amazon, it's organic =)

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