Fried Poha Chivda Recipe

Rice flakes recipe - Diwali Festival Food

This thick fried poha Chivda recipe is a savory snack made all over India. It is made with beaten rice or rice flakes (called aval, poha, avalakki, chivra in Indian languages).

Chivda is a general term given to a dry spicy mixture. There are many kinds of chivda. Thin poha chivda. Thick poha chivda. Corn flakes chivda. Puffed rice(churmure, kurmure, kadle puri) chivda, grated Potato chivda(batatyacha chivda) etc.

Poha Chivda is known by a few variations such as chudvo, chooda, chura, chivra, aval mixture etc.

Poha Chivda is made at all times of the year, whenever you feel like it. Sometimes thin poha is used and occasionally thick poha is used.

Both chivda making method differ a little though the ingredients are similar. The thin poha chivda is made by roasting poha whereas thick poha chivda is made by deep frying.

During Indian festival diwali, some kind of chivda is a must when many sweets and savory items are made. Chivda is one of the savory items accompanying the diwali sweets.

Even though a housewife may not make many items for diwali, chivda is generally made as it is quite easy recipe too and doesn't really take a very long time.

Thick variety of poha - aval is used to make this chivda given below. Thick poha is known as 'gatti avalakki' in Kannada or 'jade pohe' in Marathi.

It is good as a teatime or a picnic snack or is good to eat at any other time. It is a great item when you are chatting up in a group of friends and there is this mound of chivda on a large plate in the middle. It gets over in no time.

This thick poha chivda keeps for a month or so. Isn't that very convenient? Actually, it gets finished within a few days. It is also convenient to carry it with you if you are traveling.

You will need to use a metal mesh fryer to fry the beaten rice.

This fryer helps in draining the oil and taking out the fried poha fast. If you put poha directly in oil(without this fryer), it can get burnt by the time you are able to collect it. as poha is very light.

You can also use this fryer mesh for frying other snacks too.

You may also want to visit the thin poha chivda recipe.

How to make fried poha Chivda with thick poha - aval

Ingredients for fried poha chivda

main ingredients for fried poha chivda

curry leaves

Thick poha(aval) - 250 gms
red chili powder - 1 teaspoon or according to taste
Dalia (puthane/roasted gram,chana) - 2-3 tbsp
Dried coconut(copra) - 1/2 cup, cut in thin strips.
ground nuts(peanuts) - 2 -3 tbsps
salt - 2 tsps or according to taste
Vegetable Oil - for deep frying poha

Tempering ingredients

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Asafetida - 1/4 tsp
curry leaves - 8-10

Optional Ingredients

Sesame seeds (Til) optional - 1 tsp
Sugar (optional) - 1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts (optional) -8-10 whole or in big pieces, your choice

Making thick poha chivda - frying poha, peanuts, copra:

1. Heat oil for frying. It should be hot but not smoking. Place the metal mesh fryer in the oil.

2. Put a fistful of thick poha in the oil in the fryer. It will puff up and rise immediately in the fryer.

3. Lift up the fryer and let the oil drain well from it. I usually hold the fryer up till the oil stops dripping from the mesh fryer. I count upto 10-15 till that happens.

4. Put the fried poha in a large bowl. Poha gets fried very quickly so be careful and do not let it brown. Even after frying it should be white.

5. Again put the fryer in the hot oil and continue with another fistful of poha. Fry all the poha in this way, a fistful at a time.

You can see in the image below all the fried poha in a large kadai.

Next add the peanuts to the frying mesh and and fry till just done. You may use a long handled spoon to stir the peanuts so that they fry evenly all over. Remove from oil and place on the fried poha in the kadai.

In the same oil, add the copra pieces and fry on low heat till golden brown. Use the long handled spoon to fry kopra evenly. Do not let it turn black.

Remove copra pieces from oil and put along with peanuts.

If you are adding fry cashewnut pieces in the same way.

Making tempering, adding spices and final mixing of fried poha

In a small pan, take 1-2 tbsp of the hot oil which we used for frying. When oil is hot, reduce heat and add the mustard and cumin seeds.

When they stop spluttering, add asafetida powder and turmeric powder, curry leaves.

Add this tempering to the fried poha - beaten rice.

Add chili powder, salt, sugar, peanuts, cashew nuts and copra pieces to the fried poha and mix well. I use two spatulas to mix fried poha.

Taste it and add salt or chili powder if necessary. Mix well.

ready fried poha chivda

Your fried poha chivda is ready to eat. When chivda is completely cool, Fill in container with airtight lid.

This chivda will keep for almost a month.

Tips and ideas for variations of fried chivda:

The above given are the minimum spices used in chivda. You may also add 1/2 tsp dhania(coriander) powder, 1/2 tsp jeera(cumin seed) powder, 1/2 tsp garam masala powder to this mixture along with red chili powder.
You may also add 1/2 tsp saunf(fennel seeds), either whole or powdered. This gives a nice flavor to chivda.
These additions will give additional flavor and taste.
You may use green chilies instead of red chili powder if you wish. Add the chopped green chilies in the oil after mustard and cumin seeds have spluttered and fry them till green color becomes light brown.
Using green chilies will gives a lighter color to chivda. With red chili powder, you will get a reddish color though that looks nice too.
Instead of red chili powder, use black pepper powder.
You may also use both chili powder and black pepper powder in equal measures.

Serving fried poha chivda

Chivda may be served by itself or you may sprinkle some chopped onions and fresh coriander on it just before serving. Looks and tastes great.
During diwali, chivda is served along with a sweet, may be a besan laddoo or a kaju katli or any other sweet you may have made.
Sprinkle some chivda on top of onion upma, vegetable upma, batata poha or kanda poha to add a wonderful crunch.