Puttu, steamed rice cake

Puttu, steamed rice cake

Puttu is a rice-bread somewhat comparable to corn-bread. This humble south Indian breakfast dish rose to stardom recently with many restaurants dedicated to it. They serve a wide variety of puttu with an array of sides. You can enjoy traditional specialities like irachi-puttu (meat layered in between rice) or experiment with international fusion flavours. The recipe here is the everyday homemade puttu. It is a blank canvas ready to take up the flavours of curries like masala chick pea curry, egg curry, fish curry or any meat curry. Our evergreen combo is puttu-dal-pappadam. 

Puttu-making is a simple easy process. Amount of water is the only critical factor. Equal part of rice powder and water (by volume) is the norm. We will boil some extra water to start with. Bring the water with salt to a rolling boil in a heavy bottom pan. Remove half cup water and keep aside. Add the rice flour to the boiling water on stovetop and stir to combine. Add more water (from what we have set aside) if you see a lot of dry flour. The dough will look lumpy but don't add too much water. Take off heat and keep covered for 10 minutes. Pulse the dough a little at a time to get the consistency of coarse bread crumbs. It is best to use fresh grated coconut for layering. If you have only desiccated coconut, rehydrate it with sprinkling a little water or milk. 

For steaming puttu in the traditional, cylindrical form, you need a special mould. Earlier, we needed special steamer pots too. But the modern puttu-moulds can be fitted on top of Indian-style pressure cookers. If you don’t have puttu mould, try using an idli steamer or even ramekins in a double boiler. I use pressure cooker to make puttu. Boil water in the pressure cooker. Meanwhile fill the puttu mould. First add a table spoon of coconut, then half cup puttu dough. Repeat till the mould if full and top with coconut. Take care not to press the dough firmly or stuff the mould. Cover and set the mould on top of the pressure cooker and cook over high heat till you see steam coming out from the top of the mould. Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes more. Take off heat. Let cool for 10 minutes. Then slowly push the puttu out with a skewer into a plate. Serve hot with the curry of your choice.