May
24
Ratalyache Pohe
May 24, 2007 | 29 Comments

… sweet potatoes cooked with rice flakes.
We adore Batate Pohe (Potato with Rice flakes), which is a signature dish of Maharashtrian cuisine. One shouldn’t mess with perfection, but we’ll do anything for Nupur.
We quite liked this version.
‘Ratala’ is the Marathi word for sweet potato.
(Incidentally, ‘ratala’ is the word used in parts of West Africa to describe the ‘hausa potato’ (Plecranthus Rotundofolis), an almost-extinct tuber that was once a staple in local diets.)
We follow the same recipe for Batate Pohe.

RATALYACHE POHE
(Sweet Potato with Savoury Rice Flakes)
Ingredients:
2 cups thick poha (rice flakes)
2 cups skinned and cubed sweet potato (or potato)
1 cup onion chopped into small pieces
5-6 halved green chillies
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
3/4 tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsps grated coconut
2 tbsps roasted and crushed peanuts
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp oil
salt
2 tsps lemon/lime juice
3 tbsps chopped coriander leaves
Method:
1. Put the poha in a fine-meshed colander and keep it under running water for a few seconds. Gently wash it, and drain, then repeat. Keep it aside to drain for 10 minutes, then loosen gently with your fingers. Add salt and crushed peanuts and mix.
2. Microwave the sweet potatoes for 1.5 minutes with a teaspoon of water covered on on HIGH (until half cooked).
3. Heat the oil, ad the mustard and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds pop, add the onion and chillies. Stir the onion for 2-3 minutes until it begins to soften, then add the sweet potato pieces and turmeric, with some salt. Fry until the sweet potatoes are tender and the onion is transluscent.
4. Add the poha, mix gently and cook covered on low for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the lemon juice, stir and take off the flame. Garnish with the coconut and coriander leaves.
Serve as a light meal or as a tea-time snack.
This is our ‘R’ dish for Nupur‘s A to Z of Indian Vegetables event at One Hot Stove.

Nupur is also hosting the Regional Cuisine of India event. This month’s theme is Maharashtrian Cuisine. The event is the brainchild of Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine.
This dish is an entry for that as well.



A sampling of Maharashtrian Cuisine
Batate Pohe @
In Praise of Sardines
Tina’s Cooking
Happy Bumble Bee
My Creative Ideas
Ghar ka Khana
Aayi’s Recipes
Anna Parabrahma
Vegetarian Delight

Filed Under: Onion/Shallot, poha, pohe, ratala, ratalyache-pohe, Rice, Sweet Potato, vegan recipes, vegetarian recipes


Hmm… the first one to comment. I like poha and make it once in a while but havent tried it with sweet potato.. K will like it I guess ‘cos of the SWEET potato
This idea to use sweet potatoes in poha is gr8. Lovely presentation especially those chop sticks.
Lajwanti is certainly looking more fashionable than Camilla. You are very creative Bee
ur pics r awesome ..makes even a simple dish like poha exotic. ..lajwanti looks frigid like camilla..ha ha
Nice combo. the color looks lovely. Did you all eat poha in chop sticks? he he.. the photo of lajwanti and camila ia a nice touch of humour.
Thats reminds me I need to make some poha ASAP. The only way I have attempted to eat sweet potatoes here is by baking them. I must give this one a try. And I must say you amaze me with your post frequency ! Hats off to you, each post is such a wonderful read.
love poha and usually like it with yogurt
oh yeah…i am yogurt freak 

by the way lajwanti is much much prettier than camilla
oh did i tell u that i met the queen and duke of edinburgh yest? yup… saw them with my own 4 eys
i’ve seen them too. my condolences to you. – b.
Just the snack for a lazy weekend afternoon.
Ahh!!!! I always love the variations in poha!! Ever tried with corn? Liked ur idea of sweet potato…..
I think it will take me ages to eat poha with chopsticks though
the chopsticks are dual purpose. when you are watching a long movie, you can relish the poha grain by grain. you can also use them to prod your partner from time to time to pause, rewind or fast forward as required. – b.
Hey Bee and J,only yesterday my friend was asking me a recipe for using up sweet potatoes..I am just forwarding this post to her now.Never tried adding sweet potato to savoury dishes before..will give this a go for sure.Photo looks beautiful!
I forgot to say,that photo of Lajwanti vs Camilla is simply great!I am laughing out loud here and my windows are open..hope none of my neighbours think I have gone crazy:D
What can I say, you took an awesome dish and made it even better! I love a touch of sweetness in poha, and what better way to add that in? The orange of the sweet potato against the turmeric-tinged poha is gorgeous!
Hey B&J that’s a lovely photo (i am talking about the Poha photo)and nice variation too using Ratale..Got to try it out.Thanks
poha is such a simple delite, urs looks pretty
would like to try this ratalu version sometime.
Do try it sometime
I would like to share a tip given by my friends mom(a maharashtrian at that) add a tsp of sugar to the poha, makes it so tasty
yeah, normally we add sugar. since the sweet potato is sweeter than potato, we eliminated it. – b.
LOL @ the “Prune” ishtyle!!!I don’t like that “Rottwiler”!!;D
Ratalu Poha is a great idea and served with Chinese style!You probably are the first one to enter for Maharashtra RCI!
Looks good. Got to try.
I think I do the ultimate in blasphemy – I make kande-batate pohe! But so did MIL. But A says there is either batate-pohe or kande-pohe…you can’t mix the two. I do, and they taste just great!
Now, sweet potatoes, would be interesting. And with the Indian kind, it would still look the same
what do they know? they are fake maharashtrians.
ask this bonafide mavaali from the streets of bombay. batata poha is not right without kanda. – b.
love the juxtaposition of Lajwanti Ratala and Camilla
hey targeting some chinese readers with your presentation ?:D
Liked the photograph a lot!
Shn
This is my first comment here…but really wanted to thank you…I made those methi malai buns…oh they came out so well..I like your interesting variation of the good old pohe…
you’re welcome. glad it turned out well. – jai
Great idea to add sweet potato in poha……..nice photo…..with chop sticks……:)
We also make this dish very rottenly but not with sweet potato so I try next time with sweet potato. Thanks for sharing.:)
BJ, BJ, Anna Parabrahma goes to Aayi’s Recipes..why~~~?
great combination! love your photos
I tried your creative version,entered to MBP-GOING LITE by coffee in http://www.thespicecafe.com.Thanks for the unusual idea.
glad it worked out for you. – b.
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