Heat a wide and large heavy bottom pan.
Add 1½ cups of poha. Do not add a lot of them at one time. You must be able to spread them evenly in the pan.
Roast them on a medium heat stirring often & gently till they turn crunchy & light. They barely take few minutes to turn crisp. Check the step-by-step pictures above.
Transfer them to a large wide bowl for cooling. Fry all of the poha the same way in 2 to 3 batches depending on the size of your pan. Scroll down for tempering instructions.
Heat 1 cup oil on a medium heat in a small deep fry pan. You will need a fine hole skimmer to remove the fried poha. Keep this ready.
When the oil is hot, test by dropping a flake of poha. It has to rise immediately without browning. This is the right temperature. Pour 1 cup poha in a stream to the oil. Fry them stirring constantly.
They puff up immediately. Then remove them using a fine hole skimmer or a perforated ladle.
Transfer them to a colander lined with kitchen tissues. Repeat frying the poha in batches. Ensure the oil is not extremely hot before frying the next batch. It has to be hot enough else they will soak up oil.
This deep fried oil is not good to use, so make tempering with fresh oil. Scroll down for tempering instructions.
To Roast in Built-in Oven: Spread thin poha in a single layer on a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 350 F or 175C. Bake for 14 to 15 mins, stirring them with a spatula, halfway after 7 mins. Remove them when they are crispy. Thicker poha takes a few mins longer.
To Roast in Medium to Small OTG: You don't need to preheat the oven. Roast thick poha for 12 to 14 mins, thin poha for 5 to 6 mins at 250 F or 120 C. Shake or stir the poha halfway.
If you are using paper thin flakes, then cut down the roasting time even more.
Pour 1 tbsp oil to a small pan and heat it. Add peanuts and roast them on a medium heat until lightly golden.
Next add cashews and fry until lightly golden. Add coconut and roasted gram. Fry briefly until the coconut turns light and golden.
Remove the fried ingredients with a spoon and add to the roasted poha. Retain the excess oil in the pan.
Pour another 1 to 2 tbsps of oil to the same pan. Add green chilies, garlic and curry leaves. Fry until the garlic turns crisp and golden.
Then add cumin seeds (optional) and raisins. Soon the raisins will swell up.
Turn off the heat and add hing, red chilli powder, salt, turmeric and jaggery. Give a quick stir to melt the jaggery.
Transfer this to the poha. Immediately add some roasted poha over the tempering. Begin to coat the poha while the tempering is still hot. This helps to coat all of the poha well with the tempering. Mix all of the chivda well.
Cool completely & store poha chivda in an air tight jar.