Vella Aval | Sweet Poha for Krishna Jayanthi | Sweetened Rice Flakes

Simple sweet recipe with flattened rice and jaggery popularly known as vella aval or sweet poha, and that’s what I am going to share today! A recipe that you can make in less than 20 minutes flat!

A few weeks before, I shared a savory aval or flattened rice recipe, and I explained aval varieties and why aval is an essential pantry ingredient. Now I am back with a sweet recipe with aval, and this recipe will make it very clear that why we love aval and why I always carry it on my pantry. :-)

Think flattened rice as Indian cereal. :-) Most of us, during our childhood, relished flattened rice soaked in milk and sugar. No need to cook, and it’s our simple evening snack or cereal. The husbandman still opts for milk and aval during his hunger pangs. A little sophisticated version of this is the aval payasam. :-)

Vellam is the Tamil word for jaggery, and aval is the flattened rice. This vella aval is more like it sans milk, and instead of sugar, we use jaggery. We prepare a simple jaggery syrup, add some flavors and add the aval to it, and that’s it. That’s all the recipe is. :-) I make it regularly as a prasadam, especially on Thursday, and in fact, I made it for the adi perukku also. 

This sweetened rice flakes recipe is quite popular in India with slight variations in the flavorings. In Kannada, it is known as bellada avalakki or sihi avalakki and in Hindi, it is meetha poha and a similar version is popularly known as aval nanachadu in Kerala. 

Janmashtami

Vella aval is a popular prasadam/neivediyam offering made for God, especially for Krishna Jayanthi or Janmashtami. Janmashtami or Gokulashtami is an annual Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. 

Along with this, we also make sweet seedai, savory seedai, thattai, nei appam, thenkuzhal, etc. But let me discuss just vella aval today!

If you are wondering why we make poha or aval for Janmashtami, then here is the tale for you. 

Why vella aval for Krishna Jayanthi | The tale of Sudama & Krishna

It revolves around the story of Lord Krishna and his friend Sudama. Here is a small brief. 

The tale of Sudama and Krishna comes from the Bhagavatam. They do their schooling together, and after that, they move on in their lives. Krishna becomes the king of Dwaraka, whereas Sudama returns to his town and lives a simple life. 

Sudama goes through a bad time in his life, and even in that situation, he doesn’t want to get help from Krishna. But when things go out of his hand, he goes and meets his friend, and he takes the flattened rice / poha for him. But he was hesitant to give the humble poha/aval. But Krishna insists and relishes it. Krishna treated him royally and overwhelmed Sudama doesn’t ask for help. 

When he returns to his home, he finds a huge mansion in the place of his small house and notices all the wealth and gifts. He thanks Krishna and continues to live a simple life. This story emphasizes how an ideal friendship should be without any expectations and sincere devotion of Sudama to Krishna.

Honestly, this recipe doesn’t need any special occasion. It’s a simple recipe perfect for toddlers and can be served as a snack too. It’s vegan, it’s nut-free (I used almonds to garnish, but that’s optional), gluten-free and refined sugar-free. Great right?

Now let’s see how to make the vella aval-

• Wash the flattened rice thoroughly and drain the water.

• Now sprinkle ½ cup of water and let it sit for 8 to 10 minutes. A minimum of 5 minutes is sufficient.

• After around 3 or 4 minutes, you can start to prepare the jaggery water. 
• In a heavy-bottomed pan, add 2 tbsps of water and the powdered jaggery. Simmer this mixture till the jaggery melts and mixes well.

• Add the cardamom powder and coconut and mix and then turn off the heat—no need to simmer. 
• Now add the aval to this jaggery water.

• Gently mix and cover and let it sit for 5 minutes.

• The aval will absorb all the jaggery water. And that’s it. 

Recipe Notes-

• You can use white poha as well, but make sure to use the thick variety.
• I did not include any nuts or raisins. I just used a few slivered almonds to garnish. But You can add cashew nuts and raisins fried in ghee.
• While cooking the jaggery syrup, you can also add ½ tsp of ghee. But I did not add any and kept it vegan. 
• Adjust the jaggery amount as per your preference. 

Tips for getting perfect vella aval-

• Do not soak the poha. Wash and sprinkle water. Let it sit for 5 minutes and at the maximum 10 minutes but not more than that.
• Do not overmix the poha also mix it very gently. Soaked upma tends to break, but when you overmix, it becomes a mush.
• You don’t need to cook the aval, letting it sit with water sprinkled and then in the jaggery water, make it soft.  

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5 from 2 votes

Vella Aval | Sweet Poha for Krishna Jayanthi

Simple sweet recipe with flattened rice and jaggery popularly known as vella aval or sweet poha. A recipe that you can make in less than 20 minutes flat!

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time5 mins

Aval Resting Time8 mins

Total Time18 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: South Indian

Servings: 4

Calories: 210kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Equipment

• Saucepan or kadai

Ingredients

Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1tbsp=15ml; 1tsp=5ml;

• ▢ 1 cup flattened rice; aval/poha use the thick variety
• ▢ ¾ cup jaggery powdered
• ▢ ¼ tsp cardamom powder
• ▢ 2 tbsp coconut grated
• ▢ 2 tbsp water plus ½ cup to sprinkle on poha

Instructions

• Wash the flattened rice thoroughly and drain the water.
• Now sprinkle ½ cup of water and let it sit for 8 to 10 minutes. A minimum of 5 minutes is sufficient.
• After around 3 or 4 minutes, you can start to prepare the jaggery water.
• In a heavy-bottomed pan, add 2 tbsps of water and the powdered jaggery. Simmer this mixture till the jaggery melts and mixes well. Add the cardamom powder and coconut and mix and then turn off the heat—no need to simmer till any sugar consistency.
• Now add the aval to this jaggery water and gently mix. Cover and let it sit for 5 minutes. The aval will absorb all the jaggery water. And that's it.

Notes

• You can use white poha as well, but make sure to use the thick variety.
• I did not include any nuts or raisins. I just used a few slivered almonds to garnish. But You can add cashew nuts and raisins fried in ghee.
• While cooking the jaggery syrup, you can also add ½ tsp of ghee. But I did not add any and kept it vegan.
• Adjust the jaggery amount as per your preference.
• Tips for getting perfect vella aval-
• Do not soak the poha. Wash and sprinkle water. Let it sit for 5 minutes and at the maximum 10 minutes but not more than that.
• Do not overmix the poha also mix it very gently. Soaked upma tends to break, but when you overmix, it becomes a mush.
• You don’t need to cook the aval, letting it sit with water sprinkled and then in the jaggery water, make it soft.

Nutrition

Calories: 210kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 9mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 38g | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

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Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in 2015 but now updated with new pics, and recipe cards.