What in the Hell is Poha?

This is Poha!

We have never eaten, made or even viewed Poha. But we decided to make it! It is always tricky to make something that you have no experience with, but the ingredients looked interesting. Poha is often served in India as a breakfast dish. It is shaved rice. The recipe from American Masala by Suvir Saran turned out delicious and it makes a great appetizer. We will make it again! Some times the risk of trying the new works. This time we won!

shrimp poha paella

American Masala

Suvir Saran

SERVES 8

2 pounds large or extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Juice of 1/2 lemon plus 1/2 lemon, cut into wedges

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

1-1/2 teaspoons turmeric

¼ teaspoon ground peppercorns

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

24 curry leaves, roughly torn (optional)

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

1-1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 large red onion, quartered and thinly sliced crosswise

1-1/2 cups frozen peas

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 cups poha, rinsed in cold water and drained

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Lemon wedges, for serving

Place the shrimp in a large bowl and mix them with the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of salt, 3/4 teaspoon of the turmeric, and the ground peppercorns; set aside.

Melt the butter with the curry teave (if using), mustard seeds, and cumin seeds in a large pot or wok over medium-high heat, strring often, until the cumin begins to darken, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onion, the remaining 3/4 teaspoon turmeric, and remaining tablespoon of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the frozen peas and cook for 2 minutes, then add the shrimp and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Stir in the cayenne pepper and poha and cook for 1-1/2 minutes. Drizzle the water around the edges of the pot, reduce the heat to medium-tow, cover, and cook for 7 minutes. Remove the cover and fluff. Taste for seasoning and sprinkle with the chopped cilantro.

Serve with lemon wedges.

POHA RICE PASTA is the Indian version of instant Uncle Ben's. Made by pressing grains of rice flat, it is a wonder starch that cooks quickly, like couscous, but has a beautiful fluffy lightness that is incomparable to any other starch. I grew up eating With poha in your cupboard and shrimp in your freezer, you can make this meal in 20 minutes. 

Guest Chef

Ferris was staying with us. She was in town to achieve a life time achievement award from Women Caucus For The Arts.

We decided to cook a dinner with her assistance. Darryl and Robert were invited guests.

We started with Peanut Marsala. When we were in India, we repeatedly had this dish with cocktails. It is hot peanuts mixed with spices and tomatoes. There are many recipes for this in cookbooks and on the web. We have tried twice, and I feel that both attempts were not successful. I guess this is one of those dishes that you have to go to India to enjoy. It sure was great over there or perhaps we were just so happy to have a drink we didn’t truly experience the dish. No matter, I doubt if we will make it again.

The next course was a success, as it always is. Dynamite Crab is fabulous and not difficult, try it! You can read all about this delicious appetizer on our blog of Sep. 5, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

For the main course we served: Roasted Monkfish with Chutney Pressed Rice (Peixe Cafreal) from Fish Indian Style by Atul Kochhar. Courtney and Ferris had gifted us with this book and we wanted to cook from it. 

Darryl and Robert made a wonderful, extremely rich and moist Chocolate Cake and also brought us homemade Ice Cream. It was quite a treat! It is a shame that I feel restrained in asking them to make it again for us. It was that excellent.

Roasted Monkfish with Chutney Pressed Rice

PEIXE CAFREAL

Fish Indian Style

Atul Kochhar

Cafreal, a spicy chicken dish, was brought to India from Africa by the Portuguese. It has been part of the Goan cooking repertoire for more than 450 years now and works very well with meaty fish such as monkfish I have combined this recipe with poha a Hindu pressed rice dish. Pressed rice flakes are made by parboiling the rice and then pressing the grains flat with a mechanical press, or by pounding and sun-drying them. They are widely available in Asian supermarkets, or you can order them online through www.spicesofindia.co.uk.

Alternative fish: swordfish, turbot, halibut

SERVES 4

4 x 150g pieces of thick monkfish tail aged balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

sea salt

amaranth cress, to garnish (optional)

For the cafreal masala

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1  teaspoon cumin seeds

3 cloves

4 green cardamom pods

6-7 black peppercorns

2,5cm piece of cinnamon stick

a small blade of mace

1 star anise

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

3-4 garlic cloves

2 Dutch green chillies

a small bunch of coriander leaves

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the poha

150g poha rice (pressed rice flakes)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

] teaspoon mustard seeds

5-6 curry leaves

1 green chilli, slit open lengthwise

1 onion, finely chopped

1 potato, boiled until tender, then

peeled and diced

4 tablespoons peanuts, skinned

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander leaves

2-3 tablespoons Spicy Tomato Chutney

sea salt

For the cafreal masala, toast the coriander, cumin, cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, cinnamon, mace and star anise in a dry frying pan until aromatic, then put them in a blender or food processor with the remaining masala ingredients. Blend to a paste and season with salt, Apply this paste liberally to the monkfish and leave in the fridge for 1 hour.

Put the fish on a lightly greased baking tray, place in an oven preheated to 220°C/Gas Mark 7 and cook for 7-9 minutes, until just done. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 2-3 minutes.

For the poha, wash the pressed rice in cold running water, then leave to soak in a bowl of water. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan, add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chilli and saute until the seeds start to pop. Immediately add the onion and saute until translucent. Add the diced potato, peanuts and turmeric and saute for 2-3 minutes. Drain the rice and stir it into the pan. Cook over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, then remove from the heat and add the lime juice, chopped coriander and some salt. Stir in the tomato chutney to bring all the ingredients together.

To serve, place the poha mixture slightly off centre on each plate. Slice the monkfish and lean it on the poha, then drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Garnish with the amaranth cress, if using.

Shrimp Poha

Shumon Cooks, no recipe

Poha with Shrimp Added at at the end

Bowl of Shrimp Poha

Peach Pie

In India I often get Poha for breakfast. It is an Indian comfort food. It can be spicy. The main ingredient is sliced rice. The chef then adds spices to create his unique version. I didn't realize that it could also be a dinner entree.  Our friend Shumon made Shrimp Poha. It was delicious. No recipe it is what is in his head. If you want this, you need to invite him over so that he can cook for you. We finished with Peach Pie from McCall's Meat and Fish.

Crab and Shrimp Poha

Kashmera was in town and we decided to have Michael, Tim and Kash over for dinner. We started with our favorite crab appetizer: Crab with Dynamite Sauce. The sauce is terrific but it MUST be made with Japanese Mayo. We started with a recipe that we found on The Fine Lobster Blog called: Creamy Spicy Lobster: a twist on a Nobu Classic. Everyone loves it! We served seaweed salad with it.

We purchased excellent  canned Lump Crab meat from McCall's Meat and Fish. It is called: MeTompkin. Look for it! You can find the recipe in our blog of: Sep. 5, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

For the main course we made Shrimp Poha. This is a great dish and very easy to make, if you have access to Poha. It can be found at Indian Markets. It is often served as a breakfast dish in Bombay. Kash said this was a perfect rendition! She should know! You can find the recipe in our blog of Dec. 18, 2011. Click the date to get the recipe.

Mike and Tim brought Dessert! Yummy!

Shrimp Poha

We had just started construction on our dining room doors. Pat was here. Scott dropped Shu over to see us. He had just flown in from Bangladesh. We were happy to see him and hear his stories of his time back home.

He actually joined us for our Hindi Class! We had planned a meal for Pat, and ourselves but decided to also invite Shu.

We then decided to change the menu and make Shrimp Poha. We really like this Indian dish. We have made it before and you can find the recipe on our blog of: Dec. 18, 2011. Click the date to get the recipe. Cathy and I scrambled to go to the Indian Market to buy Poha and then to buy the Shrimp. It is a delicious dish. We really liked it!

We invited Tim to join us for dinner, since he hadn’t seen Shu for quite awhile.

We started with Mushroom Soup. It is from the Balthazar Cookbook. This is a great soup. You can find the recipe in our blog of: April 4, 2012. Click the date to get the recipe.

As the dinner hour arrived and there was no sign of Shu, we asked Tim to stop by Shu’s house on his way here. Sure enough, Shu had fallen asleep from Jetlag. Tim roused him and they made it to the dinner.

The final course was a Blackberry Cheese Cake from Proof Bakery. Wow, it was very rich!