Rice Puttu

When Dr.Meera invited, encouraged me to be one of the guest writers, she said ” You can post Recipes Manni Paatti ( Our MIL) used to make “. Immediately Appalam, Vadam, Vathal (being the month of March, I had already made one batch of the same) and Rice Puttu, which my MIL was an expert at, came to my mind.
Rice Puttu is a traditional recipe which is usually prepared during Navratri on (Friday/Tuesday) and offered as prasadam to the Goddess and distributed. Puttu is also made and distributed on the fourth day, when a young girl attains puberty.Now the Recipe.

Ingredients :

Raw rice -1 cup.

Jaggery – 1 cup.

Cashews – 8-10( broken into small pieces)

Grated coconut- 4 tablespoons

Cardamom powder- 1/2 teaspoon

Ghee – 1 tablespoon.

Turmeric powder- 1/2 teaspoon

Salt – 1 small pinch

Wash and soak the raw rice for about 2hrs. Drain the water and spread it on a clean cotton cloth for about half an hour to ensure the water has completely evaporated.Dry roast the dried rice to a light brown color .

Once it is cool, powder it nicely in a Mixer, and transfer it to a mixing bowl or a large plate.In a little over half a cup of luke warm water add the turmeric powder( Haldi). Sprinkle small quantities of the water, at a time on the rice powder and mix it well. If you take a palmful of the powder and squeeze, it should hold together, and if you drop it back slowly, it should break into a powder easily, then you have achieved the right consistency.

Squeeze and make rough balls and steam it in an Idly cooker for 15-20 minutes, remove and when completely cooled, mash the balls into powder form without any lumps.

In the meantime, roast the Cashews in ghee for a few minutes over low flame, and then add the grated coconut and roast till it turns golden brown and keep aside.

In a pan add a small quantity of water, add the Jaggery and melt it completely and strain to remove the impurities.Add the strained jaggery syrup back into the pan and make a thick syrup. Now add cardamom powder and a small pinch of salt and switch off the flame. Add the steamed and powdered rice mix slowly in the jaggery syrup, stirring continuously . Add the roasted cashew and grated coconut and mix well.Your soft and tasty Rice Puttu is ready.

Today marks the beginning of Vasantha Navratri. Try and make the Rice Puttu on Friday and offer it to the Goddess and seek her blessings.

Additional Tips

To check the consistency of the jaggery syrup take a spoonful and pour it into a small bowl of water, if you are able to gather it into a small ball easily your syrup is ready and you may switch off the flame. To be doubly sure you may throw that small ball of the jaggery on to a steel plate it should make a sound.
When you add the steamed rice powder in the jaggery syrup, it may become a little lumpy. Don’t worry , mix it well. Once cool all the lumps will vanish.

By Sundari Balasubramanian