Puttu

Method

1. 1 Roast the rice flour in a dry pan for 4 minutes until completely dry, then let it cool.
2. 2 Sprinkle salt into the flour little by little and rub with your fingertips until the dough is soft enough to be squeezed and crumbles easily — this moisture level determines whether the puttu will be fluffy or sticky.
3. 3 Sift the flour through a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps.
4. 4 Layer the grated coconut and flour alternately in the steamer tube, without compressing them tightly.
5. 5 Steam for 12 minutes from the moment steam starts escaping from the top of the tube, then push the cake out and eat it with mashed ripe bananas and palm sugar.

With an appliance

• Pressure cooker 30 min

  Replace step 5: steam the puttu tube at low pressure for 6 minutes, then quickly release the pressure, without compressing the powder so that the steam penetrates evenly; steps 1–4 remain the same.