South Indian

Puttu (Kerala Steamed Rice and Coconut Cylinders)

Name: Puttu (Kerala Steamed Rice and Coconut Cylinders)
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: South Indian
Ingredients: 2 cups puttu podi (coarse roasted rice flour); 1 cup grated coconut; 3/4 cup water; 3/4 tsp salt

Ramya R. @ramya_r

Puttu (Kerala Steamed Rice and Coconut Cylinders) is South Indian home cooking, eaten at breakfast and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.

30 min Medium Low sodium Vegetarian Vegan Halal Gluten free Dairy free Pescatarian

Ingredients

Serves

The quantities follow this count.

2 cups puttu podi (coarse roasted rice flour)
1 cup grated coconut
3/4 cup water
3/4 tsp salt

How to cook it

Sprinkle the water gradually over the puttu podi with the salt, rubbing it in with your fingertips until the flour turns crumbly and just holds together when pressed, not wet or pasty.
Fit a puttu maker, or a steamer with a cylindrical mold, and layer a spoonful of grated coconut at the base.
Alternate layers of the moistened flour and coconut, finishing with a coconut layer, until the cylinder is filled loosely, not packed tight.
Set the cylinder over a pot of boiling water and steam for 8 to 10 minutes, until steam rises steadily through the top vent.
Push the cooked puttu out onto a plate with the pusher and serve warm.

Watch how to cook Puttu (Kerala Steamed Rice and Coconut Cylinders)

Someone making it start to finish, so you can see what the steps look like.

Kerala Perfect Soft Rice Puttu/Ari Puttu | How to make a flower-like puttu -Ep 76 Play the video

Serve it with

A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Puttu (Kerala Steamed Rice and Coconut Cylinders), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.

What it is eaten with
- Bajra Bhakri (Pearl Millet Flatbread)
  
  35 min
The sharp little thing
- Coconut Chutney
  
  15 min
Something cool and fresh
- Fried Vadam
  
  10 min

A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.

Safe at your table

Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Puttu (Kerala Steamed Rice and Coconut Cylinders) carries coconut. It is free of the remaining 9 allergens on that list.

Every tracked allergen in Puttu (Kerala Steamed Rice and Coconut Cylinders)
Allergen	In this dish	Cook this instead
Peanuts	No
Tree nuts	No
Dairy	No
Gluten	No
Shellfish	No
Eggs	No
Soy	No
Fish	No
Sesame	No
Coconut	Yes	Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa)

These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.

What it brings to the plate

Estimated, per serving

Calories: 250 kcal
Protein: 4 g
Carbs: 40 g
Fat: 8 g
Fiber: 3 g
Sugar: 2 g
Sodium: 260 mg
Saturated fat: 6 g

Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.

When to cook it

Puttu (Kerala Steamed Rice and Coconut Cylinders) takes about 30 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at breakfast and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.