Puttu (; ; ; ) is a dish native to the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and parts of Karnataka, as well as Sri Lanka. It is made of Steaming 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 or banana, 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, but may have other spices. The Sri Lankan variant is usually made with
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 Mung bean, 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 an aluminium puttu kutti
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.
Other types of cooking vessels include a pan similar to an idli pan with small holes in the bottom, and pressure cookers.
Serving
Puttu is often served along with gravies, like fish curry,
chicken curry,
beef curry or
kadala (
chickpea) 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 Kerala, puttu is served with banana or Cooking banana, kadala curry, payar (green lentils) thoran with papad, fish or meat curry.
In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, it is served with grated coconut with jaggery made of palm sugar or sugar cane, or with sweetened coconut milk.
In Sri Lanka, pittu is usually accompanied with tripe curry, fish or a meat curry, coconut milk and a Sambal.
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 blossom.
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.
File:Wheat puttu and banana.jpg|Wheat puttu with bananas
File:Puttu with different flours.jpg| puttu made with rice, wheat, ragi, chemba rice
File:Puttu (പുട്ട്).jpg|Puttu served in fine dining restaurants
File:Puttu with Kadala.JPG|Chiratta puttu
In Hindu mythology
In Tamil Nadu,
puttu is mentioned in a common legend and related festival involving
Shiva. This legend is known as the
puttuku mann sumantha lilai (translated from Tamil as "the divine game of moving sand in exchange for
puttu"). It describes how, following a flood of the
Vaigai River, King Arimarthana of the
Pandya dynasty dynasty ordered his subjects to carry sand to plug breaches in the river bank. An aged woman named Vanthiammai is said to have been unable to carry out this duty, whereupon Shiva is said to have appeared in the guise of a manual laborer named Chokkan. The deity offered to move the sand in her stead, in exchange for
puttu, which would serve as his wage. After eating the
puttu, Chokkan instead fell asleep on the river bank. Seeing this, the king became enraged and struck him with a cane. It is claimed that instead of harming Chokkan, the cane blow was felt by all bystanders, including the king himself. Chokkan subsequently revealed his true form as Shiva, granted Vanthiammai
moksha, and caused the floods to recede. This myth is re-enacted yearly during the
puttu tiruvila portion of the Avani Mula festival at the
Meenakshi Temple in the Puttuthoppu region of
Arappalayam, a neighborhood of
Madurai.
Puttu is commonly sold and distributed at the festival.
World record attempt
In 2006, students of the Oriental school of Hotel Management in
Wayanad district 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.
Similar dishes
In Maritime Southeast Asia, there are numerous similar dessert dishes known as
kue putu in Indonesian,
putu piring in
Singapore and
puto bumbong in
Tagalog language. They vary by preparation and ingredients but are also steamed in bamboo tubes and are served with sugar and grated
coconut.
In Indonesia, kue putu is characteristically green due to the use of Pandanus 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 Black rice. They are culturally significant as a common traditional Christmas dessert.
See also
