Puttu Recipe without Puttu Maker | Arisi Maavu Puttu | Sweet Puttu

• 1 cup rice flour, 120 g
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons gingelly (sesame) oil, you can use butter or ghee if you don't have it on hand
• 1/2 cup grated coconut, 32 g
• 1/2 cup palm jaggery, you can use any other sweetener you have like jaggery, honey or sugar
• 1/2 cup milk, or coconut milk or almond milk
• 1 ripe banana

How to Make Puttu without Puttu Maker

1. 1Roast the rice flour over medium flame in a kadai or wok (refer 'Equipment' in the Notes section) for 8 minutes or until you get the roasted smell of rice flour, and it is off-white. Stir constantly and don’t wait for it to brown.
2. 2Turn off the flame, add the salt and continue to stir for another 2 minutes.
3. 3While it cools, you can powder the jaggery and get the equipment ready: pour about 4 cups of water in the aluminium vessel. Place the cotton cloth loosely over the vessel and secure it tightly with a string, right under the mouth of the vessel. The cloth should not sit stretched over the mouth of the vessel instead, it should dip in slightly into the vessel, concave in shape, like a bowl. The string should be tied tightly though. (There’s a picture of it above.)
4. 4Take 1/2 a cup of water, and sprinkle it a little at a time on the rice flour, while you rub it into the rice flour with your fingers. Break up any lumps. It should look like, and have the consistency of a pastry crust (found here and here, since I forgot to take pictures at this point). When you hold a fistful tightly, it must stick together, but easily break when you crush that lump with your fingers. It must be moist, not pasty. Take care that there are no noticeable lumps. You can put it in the food processor in small portions and pulse it a couple of time to get rid of the lumps.
5. 5Put the moistened rice flour on top of the cotton cloth. With the long end of a wooden spoon make a few holes in the mound of flour so the steam flows easily through these air pockets.
6. 6Cover the vessel with a bowl — or any dome-shaped lid that fits tightly atop the vessel, not a flat one — and place it over high heat.
7. 7From the time the water starts boiling (you’ll hear it), give the puttu 20 minutes to cook on high heat.
8. 8During that time stir the flour twice so the cooking is even, and before you cover it with a bowl, make the little pockets in the rice flour, so the steam comes through them; it facilitates even cooking.
9. 9After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.

How to Make Puttu in a Puttu Maker or an Idli Mould

1. 1Follow step 1, 2, and 4 from above.
2. 2Fill the bottom portion of the puttu maker (puttu kadam or a bamboo kolaputtu) or ildi maker with water, and bring it to a boil.
3. 3Sprinkle a thin layer of grated coconut on the perforate disc in the puttu maker, and top it with a thick layer of the moistened rice flour. Top it with a thin layer of grated coconut, followed by a thick layer of moistened rice flour, and so on until it is full. Do not press it in; let it sit lightly. Place this portion over the one with water and let it cook in the steam for 7 minutes. If you are using an idli maker, place a clean cotton cloth over the idli mould and spoon a 2 cm-layer (3/4 inch-layer) of the moistened rice flour over it. Let it sit lightly, do not press it down. Let it cook in the steam for 20 minutes.

Serving

1. 1To make sweet puttu, take a helping of puttu on your plate or in your bowl, and add an equal amount of ripe mashed banana into it. Add more banana if you want it sweeter or jaggery or any other sweetener (maple syrup, agave nectar, muscovado sugar) of your choice. Pour in a teaspoon of gingelly (sesame) oil (you can add ghee if you want), add 2 tablespoons grated coconut, and a pinch of cinnamon powder or cardamom powder. Enjoy!
2. 2Take a helping of puttu in your bowl, add jaggery, a teaspoon of gingelly oil, add 2 tablespoons grated coconut, and a pinch of cardamom or cinnamon powder, and as much milk or coconut milk or almond milk as you like (porridge consistency)! Slurrrrp.
3. 3If you’re eating it for lunch or dinner, try it with fish curry, or chicken stew, or a vegetable stew. A popular choice is kadala curry (black chickpea curry).