Puttu , Kerala special, with stepwise pictures

                             Puttu is a  popular dish of Kerala . I first tasted it as a kid at my Papa’s sister late Veena akka’s place in Calicut . She was a wonderful cook and she would make it point to prepare it when she was in Mangalore or whenever we visited her. Though was not a great fan of it then , today it is one of my favourite snack . It makes  a very heavy filling  . It is served with a combination of chana curry often . Other companions are mutta curry( egg curry ) , steamed Kerala banana , chicken curry  , fried papad , kapa curry (tapioca ) etc .  

                        All these years I never was confident to try puttu on my own . I always prepared it with somebodys guidance . But recently my sister Shan taught me the technique and gave me the push  which I  needed . Thank you dear sister . Now I can prepare it  anytime .

         Today ,  here in the space I’m sharing the recipe of my dads sister late Veena akka’s recipe  which my sister had saved . Well, in Kerala they  specially order the puttu powder and get it done in the mill . But here we use readymade puttu powder which is easily available in the stores . The most popular brand available    is  ‘Nirapara ‘ which works fantastic to me . The procedure is so very simple , it happens in a jiffy .

                             One important thing required to prepare puttu is the special puttu utensil which is also easily available in most of the  stores . There are 2 types of utensil as far as I know , one which is fixed to the pressure cooker and other comes as a full set known as a puttu steamer. I use the second one . Puttu utensil is cylindrical in shape .

             Puttu is a replica of Mangalorean popular snack ‘ Mudo ‘ which I had posted sometime back but tastewise they are totally different .  Different types of fillings are used in the puttu like chicken and many other things but commonly used is grated coconut . Stay tuned for the chana curry which will be my next post .

For kadala curry recipe click – here 

Ingredients :

Nirapara puttu powder – 1 cup

Water – 1/4 cup approx

Salt – pinch

Sugar – 2-3 tbsp

Coconut – 2tbsp (optional)

Ingredients for the filling :

Grated coconut – 1 cup approx

Sugar – 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Mix the filling ingredients and keep it ready .
2. Fill the water in the puttu steamer and keep it to heat .
3. Meanwhile take the puttu powder in a bowl add salt, sugar and mix it .
4. Add water tbsp at a time and mix it with your fingertips .
5. Don’t add all the water at once .
6. Add only as much as needed .
7. Repeat this until you get the consistency .
8. To check the consistency take a handful of powder in your fist ,press it like you press while making laddoo , it should hold shape like a shapeless laddoo .
9. But when you press it it should crumble .
10. The mixture will resemble like crumble .
11. This is the right stage to prepare the puttu .
12. See that there are no lumps .

How to proceed :

1. Take the puttu mould .
2. Fill it with a tbsp of coconut filling .
3. Add  2 fistfuls of puttu powder .
4. Repeat it until it reaches the top of your mould with final layer as coconut .
5. Close it with the lid .
6. Place the mould  carefully over the steamer .
7. Steam it for 7-8 minutes or until you get a nice aroma .
8. Once done remove the mould carefully and open the lid .
9. Wait for 3 -4 minutes and with the help of the puttu skewer push it from the base delicately .
10. Serve it hot with the chana curry .

Tips:

• I like the puttu to be a little sweet so I add more sugar .
• But you may reduce it as per your taste .
• You may also skip adding sugar to the puttu powder .
• You may prepare the puttu mixture and keep it outside overnight .
• But add the grated coconut the next morning .
• You may also prepare the puttu mixture and  refrigerate it overnight .
• Doing this gives a great result .
• I keep it out overnight and mix grated coconut the next morning .
• You may prepare the puttu mixture and prepare it in batches as and when you need , remaining powder needs to be refrigerated.
• Always check the consistency and then proceed , if it seems to be little dry sprinkle tbsp of water.