Puttu & Payaru Curry

Puttu is the favorite breakfast dish of Keralites, I am no different and why not, so easy to make, no cutting/chopping, no batter and no fermentation.   But yes, you have to make something to go with it, right? I like either kadala curry (black chick pea curry) or payaru curry (lentils cooked with spices). But if you don’t feel like making anything and want a quick breakfast in 10 min, have it with a banana.  How easy is that?

  

Traditionally, puttu is made with rice flour, either the white rice powder or the brown rice powder, which is also called chemba puttu podi. However,  puttu is also made with  sooji (semolina) or whole wheat flour. Process is pretty much the same though.  You can make your own flour or else it is available in any Indian store. That will save you some time. If you want to make your own rice flour, here is the process:

Soak the raw rice for at least 5 hours. Drain completely and let it dry for 1 hour or till it is completely dry. Now grind to a fine powder. Don’t add water. Now dry roast the flour in low flame, till you get the aroma, stirring continuously, so it doesn’t burn.  Cool, store in air tight containers.

Also for making puttu, you need a puttu maker/puttukutty.  It comes with a removable stopper inside the puttukutty,  so steam enter through the pores on stopper and escape through the pores on the lid.  Puttu kutty comes in various shapes and sizes.  Some of them come with a bottom part, in which you can boil water and some have a notch at the bottom that can be fitted to the pressure cooker lid after removing the weight/whistle.

  

Let the making begin..

Serves - 2

Ingredients:

Puttu podi (Rice flour) – 1 cup

Grated coconut – ½ cup (or less as required)
Salt – as required
Warm water (for mixing)

Preparation:

Take the puttu podi in a bowl. Add salt. Mix.

Add warm water little by little and mix with your hands until it looks like bread crumbs. (It is all about the mix. So make sure you use the right amount of water).  It should be powdery and wet.

Cover and let it rest for 10 min.

In the meantime, boil water in the puttu maker or your pressure cooker.

Add grated coconut to the puttukutty (as much as you like), then add flour, half way through the puttukutty, now add more coconut and fill with rice flour and finish it with coconut on top.

When the water starts to boil, close the pressure cooker, remove the whistle and place the puttukutty.

Cover and steam for 10-12 min.

Voila…hot, delicious puttu is ready.

Puttu made of whole wheat flour...

Though puttu-kadla is the famous combination, I like to have my puttu with payaru curry as well and a papadam. Hmm…sounds good, right?

Let me show you how I make it:

Things we need:

Whole green gram (payaru) – 1 cup
Pearl onions (chopped) – 3
Green chillies – 2
Ginger - a small piece
Curry leaves – a few
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Salt – as required
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Whole chillies – 1 (broken)
Coconut slices – few
Vegetable oil – 1 tsp

Process:

Clean green gram and transfer to a pressure cooker. Add salt, green chillies and little water and pressure cook.

Heat oil in a skillet. Splutter mustard seeds. Add whole chillies and few curry leaves.

Add grated ginger.  After a few seconds, add the chopped onion and few more curry leaves.

When the onion changes color, add turmeric powder and mix.  Add  coconut slices.

Now add cooked payaru (lentils). Mash some to make the gravy thick. Add required water. (don’t make it too watery)

 Check the salt, cover and simmer in low flame for 3 min.

Serve hot..enjoy!!