Puttu

Ingredients:
Rice flour: 1 1/2cup
Grated coconut: 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Water -As required

Preparation:


Fill a pressure cooker or puttu kudam with one-half water. Close with its lid and bring to a boil.
Mix around 1 cup water with enough salt. Sprinkle the water on the puttu podi and mix well with your fingers without forming any lumps, until the puttu podi becomes moist.(Be careful while mixing, it should not turn into a dough) The final mixture should be in a powdered form, but wet enough for steaming.
To check the consistency, grab a handful of the wet rice flour and press it. If it holds shape, but crumbles when pressed again, then the consistency should be right. When the rice flour is dampened, set aside for 5 - 10 minutes.
Put the small steel plate with holes inside the puttu maker mould. Fill the puttu maker/mould with 1 - 2 tbsp grated coconut. Now add the puttu podi  ( just loosely fill it with rice flour, do not press).Cover with the lid. Place it on top of the pressure cooker / puttu kudam when steam starts coming out. Steam cook for about 7 – 9 minutes or until steam comes profusely through the small holes on top of the puttu maker lid. Take out the mould and invert it into a serving bowl / casserole.It tastes best with kadala curry, spicy egg curry, cherupayar/ muthira curry, cherupayar and pappadam, pazham, ghee and pappadam,Fish curry sugar etc.

 If you are making this in a chiratta puttu maker, you need to steam it only for about 4 – 5 minutes.