Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:
It is Navaratri Friday, special for thaayaar. Traditionally, many ladies make puttu and offer to golu. The thought of making puttu may seem very arduous. Not any more, here's my mother's simple recipe for making puttu.
Ingredients:
Rice Flour - 3 cups
Water - about a cup
Jaggery - around 1-1.25 cups, exact measurement based on the cooking measure
Ghee - 2-3 tbsp
Cashews/almonds - to season
Dry coconut - 1-2 tbsp, optional, to season
Method:
1. Take a thick bottom pan, add the rice flour and dry roast it very well until it is fully roasted. It turns a tinge of red/brown. Dont let it burn.
2. Transfer this to another bowl, let it cool slightly and start adding the water a few tbsp at a time and mix thoroughly. Repeat this until you are able to grasp a fistful of flour and make a ball, but when you crumble this ball, it should completely become powdery again. In tamil, 'பிடிச்சா பிடிக்கணும், உதிர்த்தா உதிரணும்'
3. At this stage, cover the bowl and steam the wet rice flour for about 12 minutes in a pressure cooker (no need to add whistle) or other steaming methods.
4. Turn off the stove, get the bowl out, transfer it to another plate or bowl to let it cool down. When you can handle the flour, gently rub the flour between your fingers to crumble the flour to a fine powder. Use a ladle/spatula or your hands to fluff it. You can also grind lightly in a mixie to crumble/fluff it. If there are any lumps, rub between the index finger and thumb to crumble it.
5. Now, measure this cooked rice flour.
6. For every 3 cups of the cooked rice flour, take 1 cup of grated jaggery in a sauce pan, add some water to melt it. Once fully melted, strain to remove dirt.
7. Add the filtered jaggery syrup to a thick bottom pan on the stove and start stirring until it reaches 'kallu paagu/ கல்லு பாகு' consistency. To check for this consistency, take a few tbsps of water in a small cup. When the jaggery srrup thickens and firms up, add a few droplets to the water. The jaggery droplets should stay firm, and you should be able to gather it with your fingers, roll into a small ball and when you drop the ball on the counter top, it should be firm like a small pellet.
8. At this stage, turn off the stove, and gently mix the fluffed rice flour into the jaggery syrup. Continue until the rice flour is fully incorporated into the jaggery syrup.
9. Season with cashews/almonds/raisins/coconut etc fried in ghee and add to the mixture.
10. Your puttu is ready. Offer to Krishna and your golu.
