How to make Puttu/Steamed rice cake

Puttu is a very healthy breakfast that is easy to make with simple ingredients. It is very versatile, because you can eat puttu in many ways. Both of my daughters like to eat puttu with mango. If you have never tried it, you must! It tastes totally awesome. Another option for a fruit to eat with puttu is banana. You just mash a banana and mix it in. One of my daughters likes it even sweeter, and she’ll eat puttu plain, drizzled with honey. For those who enjoy a savory flavor, it’s common to eat puttu with cherupayar (green gram) and appalam, or with kadala curry (Channa curry).

I make my puttu flour at home, but if you’re interested in buying yours from an Indian grocery store, there are usually many different brands to choose from. The homemade flour I use, makes the softest puttu – try it for yourself. I will include a link in the ingredients below to my homemade puttu flour recipe.

In the market, there are different kinds of puttu makers to choose from. I have four different kinds, including a bamboo puttu maker.

The above one is my favorite puttu kudam in India, it is more than 50 years old. Nowadays I couldn’t find this kind of puttu kudam in the market. Typically, puttu is made in a cylindrical shape, but there’s also this coconut shell shape (as seen below) available. In this post, I will be using the coconut shell shape puttu maker.

I will be posting the videos of both shapes of puttu.

Ingredients

Home made puttu flour ————————- 2 cups
Grated coconut fresh or frozen ———– 1/2 cup
Pinch of salt
Water——————————————————- 1/2 cup

How to make

Take the puttu flour in a wide vessel
Add water little by little and mix it until the flour gets the right consistency (in the right consistency, you should able to make a ball of flour in your hand and break it back into flour easily)
Add 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker and keep it in high heat on the stove top
Close the lid and wait for the steams
While waiting, let us fill the flour in the puttu maker
Take the coconut shell puttu maker and place the round plate with holes at the bottom.
Add a little amount of grated coconut in the bottom and add a handful of flour over that
Then add another small layer of grated coconut on the top and close with lid

Once the steam starts coming from the cooker, place the filled puttu maker on top of the cooker
After 2 to 3 minutes you will notice the steam coming out of the filled puttu maker
Wait for another minute and now the puttu should be ready
Take it from the cooker top and flip it in a plate
The tasty puttu is ready to serve
You can eat it with multiple side dishes
Below are some popular side dishes
- Cooked green gram and papadam
- Chana curry
- Chicken curry/fry
- Banana, honey, sugar, etc.