Curd Poha with Raw Mango

There were days when I used to have the whole bunch list of dishes clicked,edited, post written and ready to go on air on the day the Blogging Marathon is to start. In fact , there were months when all the posts were ready and I used to feel bored that is no ‘joy of stress’ involved.

Then comes the time when Lil Dude started walking  running around. He constantly needs to be watched and you miss him for a second, he is up to something naughty. Everything in the house has shifted to a level higher than his reach and we are constantly searching for the stuffs we need as he has now started pushing chairs around to reach the things that are otherwise unreachable!We are on a massive ‘treasure hunt’ each and every day.

Though I do enjoy and laugh at his pranks, I am now getting what I missed earlier – the ‘Joy of Stress’. Until the day of the Blogging Marathon, I just have a list of what to prepare and post and not a single click is ready. I cook , click and post on that day. This is really hectic coz all this has to be done when he is napping. Gosh, it is stressful. I work around with a fear that he might wake up any minute and my work is half done.

Well, this is just half the story. After this blog work of cooking and clicking, I will still have loads of other household works to complete before he wakes us.

This was how it was until last month. And this month, something else added to the ‘joy’. I had a list of dishes for this week’s theme of ‘Cooking with curd‘ and I had no clue of what to cook first!

And as luck would have it, it is drizlling here for the past several weeks and the click was not to my expectation, yet, I am posting this here today so that I am not the last one on the job 🙂

Before going on to the recipe, a huge thanks for reading my rants and lending your patient ear to listen to my boring story….

As most of you are aware by now, yogurt is my favorite ingredient and yogurt rice is my favorite dish!So as soon as I saw the theme,’cooking with curds‘, I chose that one for the first week. Srivalli had mentioned that it should be a savory dish and nothing simple like raitas and also yogurt had to be the star ingredient.I chose a simple recipe today with curds and twisted it a little .

I added raw mango pieces to the curd poha. It tasted different and it was great to bite into the mango pieces and of course the crunch from the Boondi added an extra flavor to the dish.

I used :

Poha/ pressed rice / Aval / Avalakki – 1 cup[I used the thick variety.See note below]
Homemade Curd / yogurt, fresh – 3 cups
Raw Mango pieces – 1/2 cup or more
Ginger – 1″ piece, finely chopped
Green chillies – 2, slit
Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves -a  few
Asafoetida powder- a small pinch
Boondi and mint leaves to garnish
Salt to taste
Oil -1 teaspoon

1. Wash the poha and sprinkle water generously and let it sit for 15-20 minutes or until soft. After 10 minutes, stir well and check if you need to sprinkle water again.Once the poha is soft, transfer it into a large bowl.
2. Add the whisked curd, salt , mango pieces.
3. Heat oil in a small pan and put in the mustard seeds, cumin, curry leaves, slit chilies,asafoetida powder, ginger pieces.
4. When the mustard pops, pour this over the curd poha and mix gently to combine.
5. Serve garnished with mint leaves and Boondi

Note:

• There are two varieties of Poha – the thick and thin varieties.

If you are using the thin variety, wash the poha in a colander and use immediately..If you let is stand for too long,it will get soggy.

If using the thick variety,wash poha and put in a vessel.Sprinkle a little water,cover and let it stand for 10 minutes or till it is soft.Then use it in the recipe.

• Some varieties of poha absorb more water / curd. I made this a little to the watery side but by the time I could click, it had absorbed almost all the curd I had put in. So if you need it more watery, keep some extra curd handy and add to the dish just before serving.
• The curd should be fresh. If it is sour, the combined sourness from the curd and mango will defiantly not please the tastebuds.
• You can also grate the mango instead of chopping them and add to the dish.

Also take a look at the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#30