Puttu ( ml, പുട്ട്; ta, புட்டு; si, පිට්ටු) (pronounced ), alternatively spelled pittu ( ta, பிட்டு), is a dish native to the South Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and parts of Karnataka, as well as Eastern and Northern Provinces in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. ''Puttu'' means "portioned" in Tamil and Malayalam. It is made of steamed cylinders of ground rice layered with coconut shavings, sometimes with a sweet or savory filling on the inside. Puttu is usually a breakfast dish served hot with either sweet side dishes such as

palm sugar Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm tree. Palm sugar is sometimes qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed s ...

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

, or savoury with chana masala, chutney, rasam, or meat curries.

Ingredients

''Puttu'' principally consists of coarsely ground rice, grated coconut, little salt and water. It is often spiced with

cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a

wheat flour or red rice flour without cumin, whereas the Bhatkal recipes have plain coconut or ''masala'' variant made with mutton- or shrimp-flavoured grated coconut. In Bangladesh, the outside is made of a mixture of rice flour and ground ''moong dal'', while the filling is a mixture of coconut flakes and a type of caramelized sugar that is similar to '' dulce de leche''.

Preparation

''Puttu'' is made by slowly adding water to ground rice until the correct texture is achieved. Using hot water would improve the softness of ''puttu''. It is then spiced, formed and steamed with layers of grated coconut. ''Puttu'' is generally cooked in a metal ''puttu kutti'' vessel with two sections. The lower section holds water and the upper section holds the ''puttu'', where the rice mixture is inserted with layers of grated coconut. Perforated lids separate the sections to allow the steam to pass between them. A number of alternative cooking vessels are used, such as traditional vessels where a perforated coconut shell is attached to a section of bamboo, or a ''chiratta puttu'' made of a coconut shell or of metal shaped similarly to a coconut shell. Chirattuputtu

Other types of cooking vessels include a pan similar to an '' idli'' pan with small holes in the bottom, pressure cookers and, mainly in the

Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago (Indonesian/Malay: , tgl, Kapuluang Malay) is the archipelago between mainland Indochina and Australia. It has also been called the " Malay world," "Nusantara", "East Indies", Indo-Australian Archipelago, Spices Archipe ...

, hollow bamboo stalks.

Serving

''Puttu'' is often served along with gravies, like

fish curry Fish curry may refer to: * Malabar matthi curry, an Indian dish * Fish head curry, a Singaporean dish where the head of an ''Ikan Merah'' (red snapper, literally "Red fish") is used * Machher Jhol (also called ''"Machher Ghonta"'') a traditional ...

chicken curry Chicken curry is a dish originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is common in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Great Britain, Caribbean, and Japan. A typical curry from the Indian subcontinent consists of chicken stewed in an onion- a ...

, beef curry or ''kadala'' (

chickpea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are high ...

) curry, and '' papadum''. Also plantain, jackfruit, mango or banana is commonly served with it. In southern Kerala people eat ''puttu'' accompanied by sweet black coffee. In Tamil Nadu it is served with grated coconut with

jaggery Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can ...

made of palm sugar or sugar cane, or with sweetened coconut milk. In

, ''puttu'' is usually accompanied with tripe curry, fish or a meat curry, coconut milk and a '' sambol''. In Kerala, ''puttu'' is served with

or plantain, ''kadala'' curry, ''payar'' (green lentils) '' thoran'' with ''papad'', fish or meat curry. There are also many improvisations and experiments done on ''puttu'' in Kerala. Wheat and maize flours are used instead of rice in certain parts. There are also ''puttu-''specialised restaurants that serve it with different fillings.

Variations

Some variations of ''puttu'' use other grains such as wheat flour, ''ragi'' (finger millet) flour, tapioca and corn flour. The layered filling of coconut can be replaced by other foods, such as egg curry or banana. ''Puttu'' prepared in a ball shape are called ''manipputtu''. ''Puttu'' can also be made using bamboo rice. Muslims in Kerala eat a version of ''puttu'' called ''irachiputti'' in which rice is layered with spiced mincemeat. ''Puttu'' is also very common in Mauritius. It is usually sold by hawkers and is served as a snack. It is often misspelled ''poutou'' and should be spelled ''putu'' in

Mauritian Creole Mauritian Creole or Morisien (formerly Morisyen) ( mfe, kreol morisien, links=no ) is a French-based creole language spoken in Mauritius. English words are included in the standardized version of the language. In addition, the slaves and in ...

. The ingredients are the same—rice flour, sugar and desiccated coconut, but cooked in metal cylinders.

Similar dishes

In Maritime Southeast Asia, there are numerous similar dessert dishes known as '' kue putu'' in Indonesian, ''

putu bambu ''Kue putu'' or ''putu bambu'' is an Indonesian ''kue''. It is made of rice flour called ''suji'' and coloured green with pandan leaves, filled with palm sugar, steamed in bamboo tubes (hence the name), and served with desiccated coconut. This ...

'' in

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

, ''

putu piring ''Putu piring'' is a round-shaped, traditional steamed rice flour '' kue'' or sweet snack filled with palm sugar. It is found in Singapore, Malaysia, and Southern Thailand under various names. It is usually made using stainless steel molds w ...

'' in Singapore and '' puto bumbong'' in

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

. They vary by preparation and ingredients but are also steamed in bamboo tubes and are served with sugar and grated

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

. In Indonesia, ''kue putu'' is characteristically green due to the use of ''pandan'' flavoring. It is commonly found being sold by traveling vendor carts together with '' klepon'', which is actually ball-shaped ''kue putu''. In the Philippines, ''puto bumbong'' is deep purple in color due to the use of a unique rice variety called '' pirurutong''. They are culturally significant as a common traditional Christmas dessert. '' Puto'' in the Philippines is also a general term for traditional steamed rice cakes.

World record attempt

In 2006, students of the Oriental school of Hotel Management in Wayanad in north Kerala made a 10-foot-long ''puttu''. They cooked the giant ''puttu'' in a specially designed 12-foot-long aluminium mould, using 20 coconuts and 26 kg of powdered rice. It took about one and a half hours to cook.

References

External links

{{Sri Lankan cuisine Indian cuisine Tamil cuisine Kerala cuisine Sri Lankan Tamil culture Rice dishes Foods containing coconut Steamed foods Sri Lankan rice dishes Mauritian cuisine