Puttu

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice flour
• 1 cup grated coconut
• Salt to taste
• Water as needed

Method

1. About Puttu: Puttu is a cylindrical steamed rice cake that is the quintessential Kerala breakfast. It is made by layering coarsely ground rice flour and fresh grated coconut in a special bamboo or steel cylinder called a puttu kudam and steaming over a pressure cooker or pot. Nutritious, light and delicious.
2. Get the right flour: Use puttu podi — specially ground coarse rice flour for puttu. It is available at all Kerala grocery stores and most Indian stores. Do not substitute with regular rice flour or idli flour as the texture will be wrong.
3. Roast the flour: If your puttu podi is raw and not pre-roasted, dry roast it in a heavy pan on medium heat for 4-5 minutes until it turns slightly golden and smells nutty. Cool completely before using.
4. Mix the flour: Take 2 cups puttu podi in a wide bowl. Add salt to taste and mix. Now sprinkle water gradually — about 5-6 tbsp — and mix with your fingers rubbing the flour between your palms. The flour should become slightly moist and clump together when pressed but still remain crumbly and not form a dough. This correct moisture level is critical. Too wet makes a gummy puttu, too dry makes it powdery.
5. Test the moisture: Take a handful of flour and squeeze tightly — it should form a lump. When you open your hand and touch it lightly it should crumble apart. This is the perfect consistency.
6. Prepare the coconut: Use fresh grated coconut — not desiccated or dried. About 1 cup fresh grated coconut for 2 cups flour. If fresh coconut is unavailable use frozen grated coconut thawed completely.
7. Set up the steamer: Fill your puttu maker or a pressure cooker with water and bring to a strong boil. The steam must be vigorous.
8. Layer the puttu cylinder: Place the perforated disc at the bottom of the puttu cylinder. Add a layer of grated coconut about 2cm thick. Then add a layer of moistened flour about 4cm thick. Continue alternating coconut and flour layers ending with a coconut layer on top.
9. Steam the puttu: Place the filled cylinder onto the pressure cooker or steamer. Steam for 5-8 minutes until strong steam comes out from the top of the cylinder. The puttu is cooked when a skewer inserted comes out clean and the steam flows freely.
10. Unmould and serve: Push the puttu out onto a plate using a long stick or spoon through the bottom. It should come out as a beautiful cylinder with visible white and coconut layers. Serve hot immediately with kadala curry (black chickpea curry), banana, or sweetened coconut milk.