More than a year ago, I wrote an article on this website about “Beaten Rice” or “Poha”.  The article focused on the health benefits of Poha vis-à-vis white rice.  The main takeaway was that Poha can beneficially replace white rice in our daily food. Here is the link to that article:

https://www.boloji.com/blog/2901/white-rice-vs.-beaten-rice-poha

Another important takeaway is that soaked Poha can be treated as an equivalent of cooked white rice. Hence, in principle, any rice preparation, say Pulao,  can become a Soaked Poha preparation by way of a simple substitution. An important offshoot is that we save heat and energy with Poha preparations.

Soaking is a very important stage when we use Poha. It is needed to soften the Poha that we get from the market. We need to ensure that Poha is not over-softened and becomes soggy. The normally recommended procedure is to expose Poha to running water for a certain amount of time. For medium-grade Poha, which is the most suitable variety, the time needed is ten to twelve minutes.

Quite frequently, the situation in our cities is that a continuous supply of potable water is absent. People are forced to use stored water for cooking. For such households, I recommend the procedure given below.

1.       Take the required amount of medium-grade Poha and thoroughly wash it twice.

2.       Transfer the washed Poha into a perforated vessel. Pour fresh water over the Poha. Simultaneously, start a timer with a two-minute setting.

3.       At the end of two minutes, pour more water and restart the timer. This step is to be repeated five times. My experience is that the poha becomes sufficiently soft and not soggy or pasty. In other words, it is optimally soaked.

The Poha, thus soaked, is ready for the further cooking process.