Indori poha and sabudana khichdi: the dry fruits that go in, and how to choose them

Both dishes use very little dry fruit, which is exactly why the quality of that little bit shows.

What makes Indori poha different

Poha is eaten all over the country, but the Indore version has its own habits. The flattened rice is steamed rather than simply stirred in the pan, so it stays soft and separate. It is seasoned with saunf, a little sugar and lemon, then heaped with sev, raw onion and coriander, and dusted with jeeravan, the city’s own spice mix. Plenty of people take it with jalebi on the side.

Against all that, a handful of kishmish does a quiet job: a small sweet bite that sits between the sour lemon and the salty sev. Kaju adds crunch in a dish that otherwise only gets it from the sev.

How much kishmish and kaju to add

For poha made from about 250 g of flattened rice, enough for three or four people:

• Kishmish: 1 to 2 tablespoons, about 15 to 20 g. Rinse, and add with the poha so the steam plumps them.
• Kaju: 10 to 12 pieces, about 15 g. Fry them in the oil first until pale gold, lift them out, and put them back at the end so they stay crisp.
• Peanuts: a small handful, fried the same way. We do not keep peanuts, so buy them with your groceries.

For poha, broken kaju is the sensible buy. Kaju Tukda is the same kernel as the whole nut, split during shelling, and nobody can tell once it is sitting under the sev. For kishmish, a long green Lambi Dakh holds its shape in the steam better than a small soft raisin does.

Sabudana khichdi, and the fasting-day question

Sabudana khichdi is made from soaked tapioca pearls, with coarsely crushed roasted peanuts, green chilli, jeera and potato, and it is the dish of choice on vrat days. Peanuts are the backbone of it: they soak up the moisture and stop the pearls clumping.

Kaju and kishmish are additions, not the base. A tablespoon of each for a 250 g batch of sabudana is plenty. Families differ on what is allowed on a fast, so follow your own household’s practice on which nuts go in and whether to use rock salt.

One tip for khichdi in particular: add the kishmish in the last minute. Stirred in early, they break up in the sticky pearls and disappear.

What Indore buys most

Beyond the breakfast plate, the two things that go out to Indore most from our counter are badam and kaju. They go into winter laddoos, into milk, into the sweet shikanji the city is known for, and into boxes at Diwali.

How to choose a grade

The rule we give everyone is simple: buy whole when the nut will be seen, and broken when it will not.

For kaju, the grade is about size, not taste. Super and Jumbo are large whole kernels for serving. Regular Cashew is the everyday whole nut. Faad and tukda are the same kernel in halves and quarters, and they cost noticeably less. Our guide to what the kaju grades actually mean goes through each one.

For badam, Regular Badam is what most kitchens need. Mamra is a different lot altogether, smaller, more oily and much dearer, and people choose it for soaking rather than cooking.

Across our nuts shelf at the time of writing, kaju runs around at today's shop rate a kilo depending on grade, and regular badam around at today's shop rate. For the current figure, see today’s dry fruit prices in Indore. Orders reach Indore in about 2 to 4 days, and delivery is free on orders over ₹1,000.

Keeping small amounts fresh

Because poha uses so little, a bag of kishmish or kaju can sit in the kitchen for months. Keep them in an airtight jar away from the stove. In the humid monsoon weeks, move kaju to the fridge. Before using, bite one: kaju should snap cleanly, and kishmish should be soft but not sticky or sour.

Questions people ask