Puttu Recipe, How To Make Kerala Style Puttu

          Making Kerala Style Puttu, using a 'puttu maker' has been on my do list for a long time. My mother prepares very soft Puttu with homemade rice flour, but she uses only the idli moulds to do it and we usually eat it mixed with some jaggery and coconut. Only at restaurants, I have eaten the Kerala style Puttu ( in cylindrical shape ) and Kadala Curry. I haven't yet tried making the puttu flour ( processed rice flour )at home, finding a flour mill, near where I stay is a problem, so for today's puttu, I have used only store bought Puttu Flour made with red rice. Once you have the puttu flour and the puttu maker ready, it hardly takes 20 minutes to make soft Puttu. My family loves it with Kadala Curry, but you can have it with bananas ( mashed into the puttu ) and pappads ( I have eaten with bananas, yet to try with the pappads) or simply with some jaggery and coconut..

Need To Have

• Puttu Flour - 1 cup
• Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
• Grated Coconut - 5 tablespoons

Method

          Mix in the salt to the puttu flour. Then adding water little by little, mix the flour to form crumbs. I used about 1/4 cup and 3 tablespoons of water. When you press a handful of flour in your fist it should hold the shape and at the same time, when pressed a little harder should crumble, that's the right consistency.

          Heat enough water in a pressure cooker and bring it to a boil. In the meantime, take the puttu maker, put in the slotted disc into it. Then add about a tablespoon and a half of grated coconut to layer the slotted disc.

          Then spoon in half of the flour, add another 1 1/2 tablespoons of coconut, add the remaining flour, top with the remaining coconut and cover with the lid. Once the water starts boiling, cover the cooker with the lid and wait for the steam to come out. Now place the puttu maker as shown in the picture, the hole in the bottom of the puttu maker should cover the hole in the pressure cooker. The idea is, the steam from the cooker, goes into the puttu maker and steams the puttu. After 2 to 3 minutes, you'll see the steam coming through the holes on the puttu maker lid. Cook on medium heat for another 6 to 7 minutes and then switch off the cooker.

          Now remove the puttu maker from the pressure cooker, open the lid and then using the rod ( given with the puttu maker, if not use a wooden stick ), push gently through the hole in the bottom of the puttu maker and slide the puttu out of the puttu maker. Serve it warm with kadala curry or with some jaggery and bananas.

Note
If you don't have a puttu maker, you can steam it in a idli maker, the basic idea, is we have to steam the flour.