Puttu with Kadala Curry

Every Sunday, breakfast at my neighbour's place was Puttu with Kadala curry. Usha aunty would painstakingly soak the rice, drain, let it dry and grind it to a fine powder before steaming the puttu and make a kadala curry (slightly watery) so the puttu could soak up all the gravy and become moist. The way my mother made it was the tamil version, where the puttu flour was sprinkled on a cloth spread on the idli plates with some sugar and grated coconut. I did like that but not as much as the savoury version served with kadala curry.

I got the puttu kuzhai which we can fix on any pressure cooker to give this a try. My MIL suggested the brown rice flour and also another version using wheat flour (just have to steam the wheat flour before proceeding like rice flour). She usually makes payar (green mung dhal) to go with it and the leftover puttu is mixed with some jaggery, powdered cardamom and stirred alongwith some ghee and cooked until it gets powdery again. Arun just loves that. I stick to banana and kadala curry as accompaniments. I've also had theeyal made with black channa (kadala) to go with puttu and that's an awesome combination too.

PUTTU WITH KADALA CURRY

Ingredients

For Puttu:

Puttu Powder - 2 cups (I use the one made with red rice)

Salt - a couple pinches

Warm water - 1/2 cup or so

Grated Coconut - 1/3 cup

For Kadala Curry:

Black Channa - 1 cup (soak overnight and cook till very soft with some salt)

Green Chillies - 5, slit into two

Garlic Cloves - 3, chopped fine

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 1 tsp

Salt, to taste

Fry in oil and Grind:
Onion - 1/4 piece

Cinnamon stick - 1

Coconut - 1/4 cup grated

Cardamom - 1

Red Chillies - 4

Coriander powder - 3 tbsp

Method

For Puttu:

1. Mix the puttu flour and salt until well combined. Sprinkle some warm water and mix into the puttu flour until it gets a bit moist. I normally check by taking some flour in my hand and pressing it, if it holds its shape for a while then it's perfect.

2. Put a thin layer of coconut in the kuzhai and top with about 1/3 cup of the mixed puttu flour, add another layer of coconut followed by flour until you reach the top. Finally add a layer of coconut. Cover and fix onto a pressure cooker filled 1/4th with water once it releases steam. It should take about 10 to 12 minutes for the puttu to cook. Remove and unmould.

For Kadala Curry:

1. Heat oil, season with mustard and curry leaves, add finely chopped garlic and slit green chillies. Saute for a few minutes. Now add the ground paste, turmeric, salt and cooked black channa. Once this boils, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.