Chooda Matar Recipe – Peas Poha Recipe Banarsi Style

Chooda Matar is a  popular banarasi breakfast during winters. It tastes best with fresh green peas which we get in winters. It has a very different sweet and tangy taste, unlike maharashtrian poha made with potato or other vegetables.

Ingredients Used for making Chooda Matar:

1. Green Peas – 4 Cups (Matar)
2. Flattened Rice – 4 Cups (thick Chivda) – also called Poha.
3. Clarified Butter – 2 tbl.sp. (Ghee) – Read How to make Ghee at home
4. Lemon – 1pc squeezed (Nimbu ka ras)
5. Green Chillies – 2 pcs  Finely Chopped (Hari Mirch bareek kati hui)
6. Ginger – 1 tsp. Finely Chopped (Adrak bareek kati hui)
7. Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp. (Jeera)
8. Cumin Powder – 1 tsp. (Jeera Powder)
9. Salt – 3 tsp. (Namak)
10. Sugar – 2 tbl.sp. (Chini)
11. Black Salt – 2 tsp. (Kala Namak)
12. Milk – 2 tbl.sp
13. Black Pepper Powder- 1/2 tsp. (Kali Mirch)
14. Cardamom Powder – 1/2 tsp. (Elaichi)
15. Coriander leaf – for Garnishing (Dhania patti bareek kati hui)
16. Raisins – 12- 15 pcs (Kishmish)
17. CashewNuts – 12-15 pcs (Split Kaju)

Stepwise Procedure to make Chooda Matar :

1. Keep the Chooda over a strainer and wash Chooda properly under running water. Add Milk to the Chooda and keep it aside for 10-15 minutes.

2. Soak Kishmish in water and Keep it aside.

3. Take 1 tsp. Ghee in a Pressure Cooker. Add Matar, 1 tsp. salt and 1tsp. sugar to it. Stir Fry and close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook until one whistle.

3. Take remaining Ghee in a Kadai. Add Kaju and stir fry till it turns golden brown in colour. Remove Kaju once it’s done and keep it aside.

4. Add Jeera, Green chilly and Ginger for tadka to the remaining Ghee.

5. Add elaichi powder to the tadka, this will give a nice flavour and aroma.

6. Add Chooda to the tadka and mix it well.

7. Add all the dry spices i.e. Salt, black salt, jeera powder ,Sugar and kali mirch to the mixture and mix it well.

8. Add boiled peas.

9. Finally add kishmish and finely chopped coriander leaves and mix it well.

10. Empty the Chooda Matar in a serving bowl and garnish it with some roasted cashews.

11. Banarasi Style Chooda Matar is ready to be served. Have it hot!

Important Points to be noted in this Chooda Matar:

1. We should avoid using frozen matar. Chooda Matar will taste best with fresh green peas.
2. Don’t use thin chooda (flattened rice). It will crumble and become soggy on Soaking.
3. Make sure that the Chooda is not soaked for too long.
4. Amount of sugar to be added depends on the sweetness of the peas.
5. The spices in this are important. The chooda itself will not have any flavour.
6. Don’t add water for boiling matar in pressure cooker. Let it cook with it’s own water content.
7. I have put chooda first and then added the boiled peas at last. An alternate method is to put peas in kadai along with all the spices first and then add the chooda at last.

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