Red Poha Upma – Sigappu Aval Upma – Red Aval Recipes

• Red Poha/ Sigappu aval – 1 cup
• Big onion – 1 no ( Finely chopped)
• Green chillies – 2 nos ( slitted)
• Ginger – 1 tsp ( finely chopped)
• Curry leaves – few
• Grated coconut – 1/4 cup
• Coriander leaves – to garnish
• Lemon juice – few drops

To temper

• Cooking oil or coconut oil – 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Chana dal – 1.5 tsp
• Hing/Asafetida – few pinches

• Wash the red poha twice to remove the debris & HUSK.( If the red poha is thin, it will become soft after washing. So no need to soak it. If the poha is thick and hard, it will not become soft even after washing. In that case, you should soak it) I used red thick poha, so I washed and soaked it for 10 minutes till all the water is absorbed by the red poha. Keep it covered. Water should be just 1 inch above the poha while soaking.
• Chop the onion, green chilli and ginger. Keep it aside.
  
  
• In a kadai, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and cumin seeds.Saute finely chopped onion, slit green chillies, ginger pieces and torn curry leaves.Saute till onion turns transparent.
  
• Add the soaked poha, required salt and mix well gently. Make sure poha doesn’t turn mushy while mixing. Keep the flame completely low and cover the upma with a lid. Cook it for 8-10 minutes. Open it once or twice in the middle and stir it. Check if the poha is cooked soft else add little water and mix well.Cook till done.Sometimes thick poha needs little more water to cook.Lastly add the lemon juice, coriander leaves and grated coconut. Mix well and switch off the flame.Serve hot !!
  

Enjoy !

• Add finely chopped chillies instead of slit chillies for spicy taste.I used slit chillies for mildly spicy.
• Adding lemon juice helps to absorb the iron content in poha.So do not skip it.
• If you want to make no onion version, just use boiled potato pieces and sprinkle 2 tbsp of roasted, coarsely powdered peanuts at the end.