Idiyappam | Nool Puttu | Sevai | How to make Kerala Idiyappam with rice flour | String Hoppers Recipe

Who doesn't love idiyappam? Well I know some folks who are not a great fan but setting them aside, many of you would love eating idiyappam right? For those who are not very aware of what it is, is a string hopper made from rice flour. Rice flour is made into a dough using hot water and then the dough is pressed into string hoppers and steamed. It is a very healthy and light on the tummy dish that can be had as a breakfast, dinner or snack. 

It pairs beautifully with many side dishes like Stew, Potato stew, Veg Kurma, Kadala Curry, Egg Curry, Chicken Curry, Chicken Stew, Mutton Stew.. And it can be had with simple sweetened (with sugar or jaggery) coconut milk or just sweetened milk. Kids love that combo. It can even be used as a base and made into other snacks like Masala Idiyappam, Sweet Sevai, Lemon Sevai or Tomato Sevai. While some find it a tedious process to make idiyappams, what I personally have experienced is, if there is some roasted rice flour handy, it can make a yummy and tasty breakfast within 15-20 minutes :) And there are some tips and tricks that I have learnt over the years for a fluffy and soft idiyappam which I am sharing below with you guys :)

What kind of rice flour should be used?

I always use plain rice flour for making idiyappams. Either roasted or plain. If it is not roasted, I roast it for a few minutes and then add water (boiling hot). If using roasted flour, then I do not roast it again but add hot water that has been heated to a rolling boil. I generally do not use store bought idiyappam flour but my mil uses it and it gives good results too. Some people use puttu flour to make idiyappam. If you have access to good quality rice flour or puttu or idiyappam flour, use that. Do not use old rice flour as it compromises the taste of the idiyappam

How much water to use?

I generally need around 1.3 cups of hot water for 1 cup of rice flour. It again depends on the quality of the rice flour. It takes around 1.25 to 1.5 cups of hot water for 1 cup of rice flour. Use hot water as it makes the dough smooth and soft. This is the key to soft idiyappams. Finally use your hands and knead to a smooth lump free dough. Also some use a mix of water and coconut milk (thick one) in an approximate ratio of 1:(0.3) to make softer idiyappams. I have not tried yet though :) coz making a smooth and soft dough always helps me in making soft idiyappams. Feel free to try adding coconut milk if you need. 

What makes the idiyappam hard?

1. Lesser water in the dough can make your idiyappam hard
So after using a spatula to mix the hot water onto the rice flour, use your hands and knead the dough to a smooth and soft texture. Any lumps should be removed. Feel the dough and you will know the difference. It should be as smooth as a baby bum :D 

2. If you over roast the flour, it can make the idiyappam hard or brittle 
Roast the flour on medium flame till it is hot and it starts to turn yellow at the bottom of the pan. The flour should turn from it's smooth consistency to a free flow consistency while you roast.

3. Keeping the dough open can make it dry and hence the idiyappam too
If you make a big batch of dough, keep the remaining dough (while you wait for the first batch to get steamed on the idly cooker) covered with a wet cloth and place it in a covered vessel. If you keep it open it will loose it's moisture and turn hard. Also use the entire batch immediately. I would not recommend to refrigerate the dough or use it later. 

4. Do not steam for more than 5-6 minutes
The rice flour would already have cooked almost half when you add hot water, so do not steam for a long time.It turns the idiyappam hard

So I believe I have covered and answered most of your queries. So let's see in detail how to make some soft and fluffy idiyappams with step by step pics. If you still have more questions feel free to drop a comment below or write to me :)

Makes: 12 nos

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 6 minutes

I Used:

Rice Flour/Idiyappam Flour	-	1 cup
Salt	-	As Needed
Hot Water	-	1.25 - 1.5 cups
Oil	-	1-2 tbsp

The Way:

1. Take 1 cup rice flour in a kadai/pan. Add salt and mix. Heat the kadai on a low flame. If the rice flour that you have at hand is roasted, then ignore till step 4

2. Roast the rice flour for about 4-5 minutes on this low flame, stirring as frequently as possible to ensure that it doesn't get burnt at the bottom

3. Take care not to brown the flour. It should just start to turn yellow at the bottom of the kadai and the flour should become very hot to touch

4. Do not over roast as the flour as the idiyappam will become brittle. If the rice flour that you have at hand is roasted, then ignore the above steps

5. While roasting the flour, boil 1.5 - 2 cups water in a saucepan. When it starts boiling switch off the flame

6. Once the rice flour is roasted, add the hot water little by little and mix well using a ladle or spoon. You will need somewhere between 1.25 to 1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of rice flour

7. Keep mixing using the spoon. When the heat becomes bearable, use your hands and knead gently to a smooth and soft dough. The dough should still be hot when you knead

8. If the dough looks dry, then add few drops of water and knead. If it is sticky then add few tablespoons of rice flour and knead

9. Once the dough is ready, take the idly moulds/plates and grease each mould with little oil and keep aside. If you prefer add little (1 tsp or more as per your liking) grated coconut into each moulds. In the step by step pics I have not added grated coconut but in the final pics idiyappam I have done that

10. You need an idiyappam maker to make this. It is a cylindrical shaped apparatus with a twister handle at the top end and perforated disc at the bottom end. The perforated disc comes in various shapes and sizes. If you choose a disc with smaller holes the idiyappam will be more thin

11. Now grease the idiyappam maker with little oil (inside the cylinder and on the perforated disc) if preferred. Divide the prepared dough into 2-3 portions and make a log with one portion and place it in the idiyappam maker. Cover the pan that contains the rest of the dough while you press the idiyappam using the first portion, else the dough will turn dry

12. Gently press (or turn the handle, depends on the type of the idiyappam maker that you have) the idiyappam maker and allow the dough to fall into concentric round circles onto the idly mould

13. I make 3-4 rounds of the dough in one mould. Make sure that the dough does not rise too high in one mould and touch the bottom of the idly plate that is placed on top. So eyeball the amount of dough to be pressed onto a mould based on that

14. In a similar manner press the dough onto the remaining idly moulds as well. Here in the below pic, in the final plate I have pressed the remaining flour all over the idly plate (as I didn't have enough dough to make another batch and wanted to do in one go) Hence it looks different

15. The dough has to be hot while pressing. So immediately after roasting and adding water and making the dough, press it onto the idly plates. Do not allow to rest the dough

16. In a pressure cooker or pan (in which you usually make idly), take 2 cups of water. Place the prepped idly stand into the cooker and switch on the flame

17. Allow the idiyappam to steam for 5-6 minutes in high flame. Do not use the weight if steaming in cooker. Then switch off and allow the steam to be released (takes 1-2 minutes)

18. Then remove the idly stand from the cooker, remove the idiyappams onto the plate or a casserole if serving later

Serve warm with sweetened Coconut Milk or sweetened Milk or Stew or Potato stew or or Veg Kurma or Kadala Curry or Egg Curry or Chicken Curry or Chicken Stew or Mutton Stew (The list is endless ;)) !

Cheers,

Chitz

Kerala Puttu Recipe | How to Make Soft Puttu at home | Kerala Style Kuzha Puttu Recipe

Steamed Rice Flour Logs with Grated Coconut 

Happy New Year folks.. This is my first post this year and I have been prepping this post for a while now ;) and is quite a long one too. And finally the nuances and details that I have learnt so far in making the yummy and healthy Kerala puttu is here for you all to read.

Puttu, a staple breakfast (or dinner too) of the Kerala cuisine is everything but soul and comfort food to many Malayalees.. Healthy, easy on the tummy as well as to prepare, it is one of the best breakfasts that can be had. And that would definitely be one dish that Mallus miss while going abroad to countries where Kerala restaurants are not very widely found. You can make the course as simple as you want with just the puttu paired with some bananas and sugar or make it as heavy as you like for an elaborate dinner menu with erachi puttu and the likes :)

Puttu with the spicy Kadala curry (black chickpeas gravy) or Cherupayar curry (Green Gram gravy) features regularly in our weekend breakfast menus :) And my little one likes it the best with small bananas (Njali Poovan) and sugar. Also the deep fried pappadom (pappads) can be served with any combo, be it the kadala curry or cherupayar gravy or with bananas. It just complements with everything and takes up the meal a notch higher ;) Sometimes we have the puttu paired just with the pappadam. Even that is a different combo and tastes yum.. And the baap (father) of all these combos is puttu with Nadan Chicken curry.

At times when we feel like having a Kerala special dinner, we make puttu with the chicken gravy and fried chicken. That combo is just bliss and can make a mallu feel at home even when you are miles apart from the God's own country ;) And last but not least there is one more way you can eat puttu, that is with fish curry.. Be it the fiery red fish curry without coconut (Meen Mulakittathu) or the yummy creamy coconutty yellow fish curry (Kerala Fish curry with coconut), each makes the puttu taste yum and divine and brings back a lot of fond food memories to every Malayalee, right? ;)

Another way of making this simple dish more rich & heavier is to make erachi puttu. Here instead of the coconut layer in between the rice flour layers you prepare a masala using beef and use that as the stuffing. It tastes really yum and for this you do not need any other side dish :) You can also do many variants of this puttu like chicken keema puttu, chemmeen (prawns) puttu, pazham (banana/fruit) puttu and many more. Just let your imagination go wild and you can come up with many options and varieties. In Kerala, there are is a chain of restaurant "Dhe Puttu" which serves you exclusively with wide varieties and combinations of puttu. If you like puttu and would love to try some yummy and exotic varieties then you should definitely try this restaurant when you are in Kerala..

Now coming to how to prepare this easy yet yummy dish.. Traditionally in olden times , puttu was steamed in bamboo logs, which gave the puttu a nice aroma and an earthy fragrance. Nowadays we use the aluminium or stainless steel puttu kudam (bottom pot like vessel) and kutti (upper cylindrical log vessel). If you do not want to buy the puttu kudam then also you have an option to make puttu. You get to buy the puttu kutti alone which can be used in combination with a pressure cooker to make puttu. You take water in the cooker and boil it with the lid closed. When water starts to boil, steam will come out the nozzle (where you insert the weight) of the pressure cooker lid. Then gently place the puttu kutti (It comes with a small insertable hole at the bottom) on the pressure cooker nozzle and steam as you would generally do with a normal puttu kutti.

If you do not have any sort of puttu kuttis or apparatus with you to make puttu, still you can make puttu. Prepare the flour and spread them on idly plates and steam that in an idly cooker or pressure cooker. Finally when done, take the steamed rice flour in a bowl or vessel and add grated coconut and mix and serve. There is yet another versatile way that is still followed in many Kerala households, using coconut shell aka chiratta :) With that all you need is a pressure cooker to make the yummy puttu. If interested read here on how to make the yummy Chiratta puttu without a puttu making apparatus :D And nowadays the shell shaped stainless steel apparatus (that resembles the chiratta) is also available in markets :)

Now that we have talked quite a lot about the apparatus to make the puttu, let's discuss on the rice flour details. Basically the puttu flour is nothing but coarsely ground rice flour.. Either white rice or red rice or a combination of both can be used. If you are buying the rice flour, there are many brands available in market. The white rice flour would be called puttu podi and the red rice flour would be called chemba puttu podi. My mom buys the packet flour whereas my mil still partly follows the traditional way of prepping the rice at home and giving them to flour mill to be ground to the coarse puttu podi. And me and most of my friends can vouch that this way of preparing the flour guarantees the softest puttu that you can ever make or would have ever had :) It is way way way better than any store bought brands and packets of puttu podi. If you have access to a mill then I would strongly recommend you to follow this method as you can wow your family and friends with super soft homemade puttu :)

She uses white raw rice (pachari) and red rice (matta) in the ratio of 3:5. She rinses the rice in water and then dries them on large dhotis or cloth. Then they are given to the mill where it is coarsely ground to the puttu flour. If you are giving large quantities then they also roast the flour after grinding them. If they are not roasting it, make sure you do that. Roast the flour for a few minutes (4-5) before using. If you do not use the flour frequently, make sure that you roast them and store as it increases the shelf life and reduces the chance of them getting molds. Another method that I follow when I run out of store bought and homemade puttu podis is that I make them myself. I soak 1 cup red rice and 1 cup raw rice overnight in water. Then next day morning I drain them for sometime say 30 minutes. It should not become completely dry, some moisture should be there. Then grind them coarsely without water. You need not roast this podi nor add water and prep it. Just add salt and make puttu directly with it :) This method I learned from a dear blogger friend Rafee :) And also you can prepare puttu using flours of other cereals like wheat, sorgum (cholam/corn), ragi and oats in addition to rice.

And now coming to how to prepare the ground and roast puttu podi or rice flour, I have detailed 2 methods below. I used to generally use the first method for store bought flour and second method for the flour given to me by mil (the one where the flour is ground in flour mill). But nowadays I find that I can use the second method for store bought flour as well. It makes the prep easier as well as confusion free as you need not bother about the quantity of water required to prep the flour ;) So I know that I have talked a lot today but wanted to share all that I have learnt and experienced so far and hence went ahead and wrote this quite a long post :) Hope some of you might find this useful. If so do write back so that it makes my day too :)

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

 

Serves : 2 persons

I Used:

Rice Flour/Store Bought Puttu Podi	-	1 cup *(refer notes)
Salt	-	½ tsp
Water	-	1 cup (or As Needed)
Grated Coconut	-	½ cup

The Way:

Method 1:

I use this method with store bought puttu flour. This method is slightly tricky as you need to eyeball and decide the amount of water needed for the rice flour. And the quantity of water depends on the quality of the rice flour that you are using. Nowadays I sometimes follow the 2nd method for store bought flour as well. If the water ratio is more for that particular flour, then I add little more flour and adjust and vice versa.

1. Take the puttu podi/flour in a wide pan/vessel and add salt as needed

2. Now start sprinkling water little by little and mix the podi/flour, a little at a time, with your finger tips. Mix thoroughly and make sure there are no lumps present. Wet the flour a small portion at a time so that it is easy to handle and also ensures that the lumps formed are lesser and easier to break. You can see that the volume of the flour increases once you start adding water to it

3. The amount of water required depends on the quality of the puttu podi/rice flour that you use. And the softness of the puttu depends on the flour and water ratio. If the water is less then the puttu will turn dry and if the water is more it will turn lumpy and you will not get the nice grainy texture

4. Hence mix the flour well till you reach a breadcrumb consistency. The flour should be wet and not lumpy. You can test for the right consistency by pressing a small portion of the flour in your fist, it should form a firm shape and not crumble. When you press it a little more it should break and crumble

5. Break all the tiny crumbs with your finger tips. You can do this by taking small batches of the wet flour in the small jar of the mixer-grinder and grind them using the pulse option (only). This will ensure a smooth and lump free flour (for pics see method 2)

6. Now take 2 cups of water (2/3 rd of the base vessel) in the base vessel. Keep on stove and heat it

7. Meanwhile, let's fill the cylindrical part with the puttu podi/flour. First place the perforated disc inside the cylindrical vessel. Then add 2-3 tablespoon of grated coconut in the cylindrical vessel. It should be spread evenly and should not stay in a slanting position

8. Then gently add 2-3 handfuls of the prepared flour evenly on top of the coconut in the cylindrical vessel. The amount of flour to be added depends on your preference and the length of the puttu kutti (cylindrical vessel). If you want 2 pieces of puttu, then fill almost half of the kutti with the prepared flour. Alternate with 2-3 tablespoons of grated coconut. If you want three pieces of the puttu from one kutti, then fill about 1/3 rd of the kutti with the prepared flour and alternate with 2-3 tablespoons of grated coconut

9. Once done cover the top portion with 2-3 tablespoons of grated coconut and spread evenly. Close with the top lid

10. By now water must have come to a boil in the bottom vessel. Now place the cylindrical vessel on top of the bottom vessel. In the pic you can see that I have used a small piece of cloth at the top of the cylindrical vessel. This is because after long use (or if the quality of the vessel is poor), the bottom of the cylindrical vessel starts to crack. Then the steam from the bottom vessel will start to escape through those cracks rather than steaming the puttu in the cylindrical vessel. In order to prevent that the top of the bottom vessel is covered with a wet cotton piece of cloth which does not allow the steam to escape

11. After placing the cylindrical vessel of top of the bottom vessel, steam the puttu on high flame till you see steam releasing from the top vents of the lid. Then reduce the flame to sim and allow it to steam for another 4-5 minutes

12. Then switch off the flame. Carefully remove the top part of the vessel from the bottom part. The vessel will be very hot and hence handle carefully. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes

13. Using the back side of a spoon or the stick that comes with the puttu vessel, gently push the steamed puttu from the bottom end of the cylindrical vessel and allow it to slide on to a plate or a serving dish

Method 2:

This method I religiously follow for the rice flour that is ground in mills. The 1:1 ratio of flour and water just works perfectly fine every time. Here raw rice (pachari) and red rice (matta) are taken in the ratio 3:5 and rinsed well and dried. Then is given for grinding into coarse flour in flour mills. Then it is roasted on a low-medium flame for 4-5 minutes. And you can store this roasted flour in air tight containers for future use. While making puttu, follow the below steps.

1. Take 1 cup rice flour in a wide pan/vessel. Add the salt and mix

2. Now add 1 cup water (same ratio as the rice flour) to the rice flour. Do not mix, just pour water to the rice flour and allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes

3. After 20 minutes, you can see that the rice flour has absorbed all water. Now using your fingertips gently break the flour and make it lump free. The flour would have doubled in volume now. Do not omit this step, else the flour will be lumpy and will not become grainy as needed

4. Now take small batches of the prepared flour in the small jar of the mixer-grinder and grind them using the pulse option (only) for 2-3 pulses. This will ensure a smooth and lump free flour (for pics see method 2)

5. Now take 2 cups of water (2/3 rd of the base vessel) in the base vessel. Keep on stove and heat it

6. Meanwhile, let's fill the cylindrical part with the puttu podi/flour. First place the perforated disc inside the cylindrical vessel. Then add 2-3 tablespoon of grated coconut in the cylindrical vessel. It should be spread evenly and should not stay in a slanting position

7. Then gently add 2-3 handfuls of the prepared flour evenly on top of the coconut in the cylindrical vessel. The amount of flour to be added depends on your preference and the length of the puttu kutti (cylindrical vessel). If you want 2 pieces of puttu, then fill almost half of the kutti with the prepared flour. Alternate with 2-3 tablespoons of grated coconut. If you want three pieces of the puttu from one kutti, then fill about 1/3 rd of the kutti with the prepared flour and alternate with 2-3 tablespoons of grated coconut

8. Once done cover the top portion with 2-3 tablespoons of grated coconut and spread evenly. Close with the top lid

9. By now water must have come to a boil in the bottom vessel. Now place the cylindrical vessel on top of the bottom vessel. In the pic you can see that I have used a small piece of cloth at the top of the cylindrical vessel. This is because after long use (or if the quality of the vessel is poor), the bottom of the cylindrical vessel starts to crack. Then the steam from the bottom vessel will start to escape through those cracks rather than steaming the puttu in the cylindrical vessel. In order to prevent that the top of the bottom vessel is covered with a wet cotton piece of cloth which does not allow the steam to escape

10. After placing the cylindrical vessel of top of the bottom vessel, steam the puttu on high flame till you see steam releasing from the top vents of the lid. Then reduce the flame to sim and allow it to steam for another 4-5 minutes

11. Then switch off the flame. Carefully remove the top part of the vessel from the bottom part. The vessel will be very hot and hence handle carefully. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes

12. Using the back side of a spoon or the stick that comes with the puttu vessel, gently push the steamed puttu from the bottom end of the cylindrical vessel and allow it to slide on to a plate or a serving dish

Enjoy hot with kadala curry or cherupayar curry or banana and sugar or pappadoms :)

Notes:

• If using home made rice flour or mill ground flour, make sure to roast the flour for a few minutes before prepping the flour for making puttu
• If you do not have the apparatus for making puttu, you can prep the flour and spread them on idly plates and steam them for 5-7 minutes in an idly cooker or pressure cooker. Also you can make chiratta puttu (refer the link for details)
• For more methods on how to make puttu without the actual puttu kudam & kutti, read the foreword of this post 

Cheers,
Chitz

Chiratta Puttu | Puttu | Pittu | Steamed Indian Rice Cake

Steamed Rice flour with coconut fillings in coconut shell

Chiratta Puttu. Wondering what?? It's none other than the traditional Kerala breakfast prepared in the very traditional way. Both me & Deeps go gaga over puttu. But we do not have the required apparatus (puttu kutti) here for preparing it. But that did not stop us from preparing and relishing it.. Yes, Deeps found the way. Infact amma (mil) used to prepare puttu using chiratta (coconut shell) it seems. And he says that it is more tastier than the ones prepared using the puttu maker. And so with this new found way, puttu is now a regular in our weekend menu 

There are also several other ways to prepare and relish this dish. If you can't get hold of a coconut shell or puttu maker then also it's fine. Prepare the rice flour and you can double boil it till done (My mom use this way at times). Or use idly plates to place the prepared flour & steam in pressure cooker (I have never tried this, but have read about it). And as to serving, it can be enjoyed with Banana, sugar & pappad | Milk & sugar | Cherupayar (green gram) curry | Kadala (Chick peas) curry | Chicken gravy | Beef curry | Sambar. Ohh yes, I have tried all these combinations  And Yet to be tried one is the stuffed egg masala puttu. Maybe, some other day  

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Yields: 5 nos

I Used:

Rice Flour/Puttu Flour - 2 cups Grated coconut - ¼ cup Salt  - As needed Water - As needed Coconut Husk - 2 halves

The Way:

1. In a pan roast the rice flour on low flame for about 5-6 minutes. Stir continuously to avoid over roasting or burning
• Home made rice flour or store bought rice flour can be used
• For home made ones, 
• Soak rice in water for 2-3 hours 
• Drain off the water and dry the rice by spreading it over a large towel or white cloth
• Once dried, grind to a coarse powder
• Roast this flour as mentioned above. You can use this immediately for making puttu or idiyappam or store it away in air tight containers for further use
• Store bought ones can also be roasted and stored away for future use
2. If using store bought puttu powder, skip the first step
3. Take the flour/powder in a bowl. Add salt and mix
4. Sprinkle water over the powder and mix till it becomes moist or rather wet 
• Do not add the entire water together. This would make the mixture into a dough form which is not what is required
• It should be of a crumby consistency as in the pic
• For beginners, it is better to use a large plate rather than a bowl. Take a little quantity of powder, sprinkle water & mix. Once that portion is ready keep that at one corner of the plate and start working on a new portion till the entire powder is done (Mom taught me this way :))
• To check if it's done, take a fistful of the prepared flour. If it clings together & the flour doesn't fall off, then it is done (Mom's tip)
• It took me around two third glass of water for 2 cups of flour

1. Take one half of the coconut shell. Drill a hole through one eye using knife 
2. If using the shell for the first time, you can soak it in water overnight so that it becomes soft (strictly optional)
3. Place little grated coconut in the coconut shell. Add the prepared flour on top of it. Cover it off with another layer of grated coconut

1. Take 2 glasses of water in the pressure cooker. Close it with the gasket on and leave it on medium flame
2. Once steam starts coming off from the whistle (where we place the lid) of the pressure cooker, place the coconut shell on the pressure cooker as shown in the pic
3. Steam the puttu for 10-12 minutes on medium flame

1. Remove it from the flame and place the shell inverted onto a plate. Wait for 2 minutes. Then remove the puttu from the shell by giving it a gentle tap

Notes:

I used stored bought chemba rice puttu powder

Cheers,

Chitz