There a few times during the month when I have to cook meals for one because my husband is away on work. I often such occasions to spend even less time in my kitchen. My meals-for-one are generally what I like to eat but comforting, filling and come together quickly. Healthy and filling quick to cook meals are easy and it helps that I am too fussy about what I eat. I can happily eat a sandwich for dinner or pasta for breakfast, or a breakfast dish for lunch if that’s what I feel like.
South India by and large, eats a rice based diet. So rice is at the table in various forms for breakfast, lunch, dinner or in-between snacking. We eat cooked rice, or use it as flour, kneaded into dough, or ground into a batter. We also eat rice as puffed rice (pori) or beaten / flattened rice (aval/ poha).
Beaten or flattened rice is eaten all across India, in many different ways. Aval or Poha comes in varying thickness – from paper thin and almost translucent to slightly thicker flakes. Very versatile in terms of how it can be eaten, Aval can be eaten cooked or uncooked, hot or cold, sweet or savoury.
When eaten uncooked, it is usually soaked in a liquid of some sort – water or milk, depending on the recipe. Beaten or flattened rice flakes can also be made from white rice or brown/ red, unpolished rice. The latter is naturally a little more nutritious and has a nuttier flavour. Aval requires very little time to cook so most dishes involving this ingredient can be put together in about 15 to 20 minutes.
In this particular recipe, the Aval isn’t really soaked as such. It absorbs enough water when being washed and a little more moisture when being cooked. Puli Aval is a dish of beaten rice flakes cooked in a little tamarind juice and then seasoned and tempered with spices. What this makes is a dish that is a little spicy and tangy with a hint of sweet topped off with peanuts.
I prefer to use red/ brown rice flakes but you can use the white variety too. The red/ brown variety might need a little more water than the white one. Just make sure you use the thicker variety because the thinner kind will end up as mush. As always with most traditional recipes, every home and family has their own time tested recipe which they will swear by. This version is what we make in my home. Some recipes also include the use of Sambar powder but mine doesn’t.
Puli Aval or Tangy & Spiced Beaten Rice Flakes
Ingredients
- 4 cups dry thick aval/ poha/ beaten rice flakes
- 2 1/2 tbsps sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tsp split black gram lentils, urad dal
- 2 tbsps Bengal gram lentils, chana dal
- 1/8 cup skinned peanuts
- 1/8 tsp asafoetida powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 – 3 sprigs curry leaves
- 2 green chillies, chopped
- A large marble-sized ball of dry tamarind
- 1 tbsp powdered jaggery
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- To make tamarind extract, take a small round of tamarind (about the size of a marble. Put it in about 1/4 cup warm water and rub it into the water with your fingertips. This will release the pulp. Squeeze out the liquid and throw the solids away. You will need 2 tsp thick tamarind extract for this preparation.
- Put the red/ brown aval/ poha/beaten rice flakes in a large bowl and pour enough water to immerse it. Use your fingers and lightly rub the flakes. Let it sit for a couple of minutes and then drain out the water. If you’re suing the white variety, it doesn’t need soaking. Rinse well a couple of times using your fingers. Drain well and keep aside. The rice flakes will puff a bit and soften from absorbing water. Keep aside.
- Heat the oil in a pan or wok. Add the mustard seeds, when they splutter, add the lentils (dals) and the peanuts stirring for about a minute or till they turn a golden brown. Now add the chopped green chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida powder, turmeric powder and stir a couple of times. Mix in the tamarind extract and powdered jaggery.
- Add the aval/ poha/ beaten rice flakes and salt to taste. Mix everything well together so the spices even coat the beaten rice flakes.
- Serve hot, as it is, or with coconut chutney or yogurt on the side.
