#33 Healthy Puttu

BTW, "puttu" is an authentic breakfast food made in Kerala and Tamil nadu. Most breakfast dishes are made of rice and just like the muffins and croissants that make up the American breakfast the day
always starts with a high-carb breakfast. Keralites certainly did not rely on Cereal bars or a bowl of oatmeal to start the day, they had no choice but cook up a variety of dishes from the staple grain
available to them in the early days. And so the breakfast of choice was idli, dosa, appam, puttu, idiappam, kozhukatta, pathiri and  others. I love puttu when eaten along with kadala curry.   It is made in speciality puttu makers or molds by filling them with moistened rice flour or flour made from other grains. When this is steamed along with grated coconut, the puttu retains its shape from the mold it is steamed in and takes on the coconut aroma. The traditional mold or Puttu Kutti has two parts- the upper part is either cylindrical or coconut shell shaped where the flour and coconut are filled, so the bottom is
perforated to allow the steam to cook the grain. The lower portion can be any pot for boiling water to generate steam. It may be in the form of a round pot which holds the 'kutti', or may be doubled as a
pressure cooker that  cooks something else like rice and while puttu is being made. 

The "Puttu" in my recipe is made from a store bought mix called HEALTHY PUTTU MIX and it contains  whole brown rice, barley, ragi, green peas, chick peas, cashews, almonds, corn, rice bran, tulsi and other healthy grains.

Ingredients:
Puttu Powder- 1 cup
warm Water- as needed
Salt as needed
Freshly Grated Coconut.
Method:
1. Take a bowl and add the puttu powder and salt.
2. Add the warm water about 1 Tblspn at a time, Mix well with clean fingers. It is important to use fingers because then you test the texture until you are satisfied.
3. Keep adding water 1 Tblspn at a time until the mix looks crumbly and when you press it together in the palm of your hand it holds together and falls apart.
4. The mix should be just moist enough to hold together but not soggy enough to remain doughy.
5. You could use either a "chiratta Puttu mold" or the traditional "puttu mold"  and a pressure cooker together.
6. I have a traditional "puttu mold". Heat 1 1/2 cups water in the pressure cooker. When it boils keep the lid on the pressure cooker until the steam comes out of the spout.
7. Do not place the pressure on it, instead place the traditional "puttu mold" on it with the prepared puttu mix inside it and allow it to steam well.
8. The puttu mold is prepared by filling with 2 inch layer of puttu mix, top with grated coconut about 1/8 " layer. Add a layer of Puttu mix and top with another 1/8 " coconut.
9. Cover with the mold cover and then place it on the whistle spout of the pressure cooker. There are three holes on the top of the puttu mold.
10. Now, watch for steam to come in a straight stream through these holes. When this happens, the puttu is cooked well.
11. Serve with Kadala(Black chick peas curry) or sugar/ghee.