Poha substitutes

Thin rolled oats or instant oats, which hydrate in a minute or two the way poha does.

Best for

poha-style breakfast, savory upma-style dishes

The best available swap and a dish Indian cooks make on purpose. Dry-roast the oats in a pan for 3 to 4 minutes first, which is not optional: raw oats go gluey. They come out softer and slightly creamy where poha stays as distinct pillowy flakes, and there is a mild oaty flavor underneath the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add them at the very end with only a sprinkle of water and take the pan off the heat immediately.

Leftover cooked rice, cold from the fridge so the grains are firm and separate.

Best for

savory breakfast dishes, lemon rice and fried rice style dishes, using up leftovers

This makes a genuinely good breakfast with the same tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric, peanuts and lemon, but be clear that it is now a lemon rice rather than poha. Rice grains are chewier, heavier and glossier than flattened rice flakes, so the dish eats denser and more filling. Use freshly cooked warm rice and it will clump and smear, so cold rice only, and add a little extra oil since rice absorbs less than poha does.

Fine wheat or rice noodles, sold in short lengths and usually roasted before use.

Best for

upma-style breakfast, savory quick dishes

Roast in ghee until pale gold, then cook in about 1 ½ times its volume of water for 5 minutes. The tempering, peanuts and lemon carry over well, but the texture is soft slippery strands rather than tender flakes, so it eats more like a noodle dish. Wheat vermicelli also brings its own mild pasta flavor. Not gluten-free unless you buy the rice version.

Coarse semolina, roasted dry and then cooked into a soft savory porridge.

Best for

upma, savory breakfast

A good breakfast using the identical tempering, but the outcome is a soft, cohesive, spoonable mass rather than loose flakes you can eat with a fork. If someone at the table was expecting poha they will notice immediately. Roast the rava for 5 minutes until it smells nutty or the finished upma will taste raw and pasty.

Whole rice grains puffed dry into airy crisp kernels.

Best for

chivda and namkeen snack mixes, bhel puri, dry crunchy mixtures

Only for the dry snack use of poha, where thin poha is roasted or fried with peanuts, curry leaves and spices. Puffed rice gives the same crunch at a fraction of the frying effort, though it is lighter and more brittle and it collapses within minutes of meeting anything wet. Useless for a cooked poha breakfast, since it will dissolve the moment water touches it.

Dry crumbs that absorb moisture and hold a mixture together.

Best for

cutlets and tikkis, kebab and patty mixtures

In cutlets and tikkis, poha is doing a completely different job: soaked and mashed, it acts as a binder that absorbs excess moisture from potato or vegetables. Breadcrumbs do that as well or better. The patty will be slightly firmer and less soft in the center, and if you are cooking for a fast or a gluten-free household, use crushed cornflakes or rice flour instead.