Puttu and Kadala curry/ Rice Steam cake and Black chickpea curry

Hope you had a nice weekend...As I haven't posted any breakfast recipes in my blog yet, I am going to start with a traditional kerala recipe: Puttu and KadalaCurry(Steamed rice cake and black chickpea curry)...

"Puttu" is a traditional kerela breakfast and non-keralites hardly know this dish  and its preparation.why i am saying like that because my non-malayalee friends curiously ask about this puttu..may be because the preparation of this dish is so unique ..It is a very easy to make recipe but it requires a specific mould for the preparation.

The best combinations with puttu are : payar (moong dal curry); kadala curry  ; pappadam and pazham(ripe banana).My brother used to have the puttu with the egg curry.Thats also a best combination.

There are two types of puttu mould(Puttu kutty). Hemisphere mould (you can even use coconut shell) and cylinderical mould. I used both the moulds for preparing the Puttu today.. (Traditionally the puttu was prepared using a cylendrical mould ("Puttu Kutty") coming along with a small pot("Puttu Kudam"). Nowadays, we use pressure cooker instead of this pot).I do remember sometimes amma used to prepare the puttu with the idlimaker instead of the puttu-kutty.. Add the flour in each idli plate and just steam it..Within minutes plateful of puttu will be ready.If u are interested u could use the coconut shell as well. Add the grated coconut and flour in the shell and make a hole in the shell (by opening of the eye of the shell).. Place  this into the pressure cooker nozzle and cook..
Below are the moulds which I used for preparing puttu:

Let me explain the preparation steps of this steamed rice cake
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
Rice Flour: 2 cup
Grated coconut: 1/4 cup
salt : to taste
Water : enough
Preparation
Step1: In a pan add the rice flour and heat it for 5 minutes.stir constantly. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool.
Step2: In a bowl add this flour and sprinkle some water (add salt too) and prepare wet flour. This is an important step. Do not add more water and also make sure that the flour is wet enough.
Step3: In a pressure cooker boil 2-3 cups of water.
Step4: In the puttu kutty add the grated coconut and then the flour in layers( in the cylinderical  -add 3 layers of coconut (1-2 tsp)and 2 layers of flour,in the hemishere just one layer if u wish u could add some grated coconut on the top as well)
Step5: Place the mould on the pressure cooker nozzle(vent pipe). Once the flour is well cooked  you could see the steam coming from puttu mould.let it cook for some more time.(refer the picture below)

Step6: Remove it from the pressure cooker and with the help of a stick take off  the puttu from the mould.
The delicious puttu is ready to have..Have it with kadala curry.

Points to ponder

• Insted of using the flour..u can soak the rice for 4-5 hour and make the nice powder of it and use that...
• Heat the flour just before making the puttu.It will help to make the puttu softer.

Kadala curry(Black Chickpea Curry)

Black chickpea(kadala):1 cup
Onion: 1 medium sie
Tomato: 1 small
Green chili: 2 nos
salt : to taste
ginger: medium sie
Garlic: 3 pods
Coconut pieces: 5-10(optional)
Making the paste
Grated coconut :1/2 cup
Chili powder: 1 tsp
Coriander Powder: 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala: 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder:1/2 tsp
Seasoning
Oil : 1 tsp
Mustard seed: 1 tsp
Redchili: 1 no
Curry leaves: 1 spring
Preparation:
Step1:

• Heat the pan .Add the grated coconut and fry until golden brown color.Add the chili powder coriander powder garam masala and turmeric powder fry it for 3 minute.Switch off the heat and let the mix to cool..
• Make a nice paste of the above mixture.Add water accordingly.

Step2

• Soak the chickpea in water overnight(otherwise atleast 8-10 hours)
• Cook the chick pea in 3 cups of water(add salt too)

 Step3

• Heat oil in a pan,add the sliced onion,Once it get slight brown color add the garlic ginger paste, green chili and coconut piece. sauté well .
• Add the tomato pieces saute until the oil seperate from the mix.
• Add the black chickpea saute for sometime
• Add the coocnut paste and mix it with the chickpeas
• Add enough water(use the same water  for cooking the chickpea) and cook for 10-15 minutes in medium heat

Step4

• Heat oil in another pan..add the mustard seeds ,once the mustards seeds get splutter ,add the red chili and curry leaves 
• Pour the mix into the kadala curry.

The Kadala curry is ready to have..Have it with Puttu.

Points to ponder

• If you like more spice add more green chili and chili powder
• If you like to make more gravy add 2-3 cup of water .
• Do not overcook the black chickpea.

Sending this  to JIHVA-Breakfast event hosted by veggieplatter and the event started by Indira