New Delhi: While India was glued to TV screens, tracking government formation, an Indian dish went silently global. It’s your humble poha. And it’s a BJP leader who made the announcement on 7 June as he munched the flat rice dish before media persons and asked people to choose it over pizza and burger. After millet, poha is the latest to have found its godfather in the Indian culinary landscape.
Thele wale tu poha to khila de — a parody of Badhaha’s global hit DJ wale babu — played in the backdrop as Vijayvargiya, the BJP’s national general secretary, made his pitch for poha.
And Vijavargiya has a business plan too. It’s all thought out. He says its promotion will ensure higher consumption which in turn will benefit Indore—the poha capital of the world.
But poha needs no promotion. It’s that one dish that starts the day for millions of Indians. A blessing for students living away from their hometown. After two-minute noodles and four-minute sandwiches, 10-minute poha is the healthiest breakfast option for them. And garnish it with some pomegranates and you have the power of iron too.
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From five-star breakfast menus to finding its place in fitness experts’ cheat code and on flights and railways, Indori Poha is no longer limited to Indian kitchens and street food. It even features on food and travel blogs. So for Indians, every day is international poha day—breakfast? Poha jalebi. Snacks? Phoa tea.
And it’s not so demanding either. Barring the flattened rice, salt and oil, no ingredient that if, god forbid, goes missing can mess up with your plan of having poha.
Poha is prepared differently across different regions to cater to local tastes. In the north, it is typically spiced up with an array of masalas and chilies. In contrast, Indore has a unique approach where Poha is boiled and served, offering a distinct texture and taste. This regional variation highlights culinary diversity and shows how the same dish can be adapted to satisfy different palates. Hard to say which state can claim a GI tag on poha.
Vijayvargiya might want to give Indore the due credit for poha promotion, which is correct for many reasons. But poha belongs to all of India, and it doesn’t really mind being adopted. It may taste different in different regions but the bottom line is that it tastes great.
For many people, Poha is more than just food. It’s a feeling of home and comfort, a connection to their roots, which they can now find even in countries like the US and Canada. People who grew up in Indore or around the region often carry their childhood memories with them about poha to other parts of India, thus making it even popular.
I had a friend in college from Indore who missed Indori poha during her stay in Delhi. Whenever home, she would send pictures of the dish to me. She used to get ‘jeeravan’—the essential spice in Indori poha—every time she returned to Delhi.
But if you don’t have jeeravan. Don’t worry. Poha in any form is light, inclusive, and diverse. It has replaced biscuits and even namkeen in some households. Such is its popularity that it enjoys a clear mandate.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)