Idiappam - String Hopers

Idiyappam or sevai is a regular breakfast in our home in Kerala. In fact, steamed rice-based dishes are the most common and until I moved out and started cooking on my own, I never realised what a luxury it was to eat the hot, healthy, and delicious breakfasts that seemed to waltz effortlessly out of my mom's kitchen. The most common breakfast items at home are idli, dosa, idiyappam, puttu, appam, adai, kozhukkattai, chapati, and on rare occasions, toast with homemade butter. See what I mean? Among many other things in life, I believe that a hearty and healthy breakfast is a dying thing. It's definitely mourned in the home that I've set up now which sees idli or dosa on the best days for breakfast, but rarely anything more elaborate. I try to compensate with a hearty brunch or lunch but it's just not the same thing.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups of rice flour
• 2 to 2.5 cups of water (more or less)
• To taste: salt
• 3-4 tbsp of grated coconut

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Mix the rice flour and salt together. Heat the water until bubbles start appearing at the bottom of the pan. When the water is just about boiling, add to the rice flour a cup at a time.

• Start mixing vigorously with the back of a spatula until the rice flour is coming together to form a moist dough. Add more rice flour if your dough is too watery and sticky and add more water if it's too dry.

• The dough should be just moist and you should be able to form a small ball easily without it sticking to your fingers.

• Working quickly while the dough is still warm, Take a fistful of it and form into a log.

• Place firmly into your idiyappam press or mould.

• Start pressing the idiyappam onto the tray in a concentric circle

         

•  Make sure it's not too thick otherwise it won't steam properly. PS: you can totally use your idli mould for this. The idiyappam pieces will just be much smaller

• Place on streamer.

• Steam for about 10 mins.

• Open, unmould, and enjoy hot with some Kadala Curry,Veg Kurma,Pulisseri

                   

Notes:

1. All measurements for this recipe are approximate. Please take care while mixing the dough, that's the trickiest part and takes a little bit of practice
2. Don't use boiling water since that will cook the rice flour and make it hard to press. The water just needs to be very hot
3. If the idiyappam dough is too dry, it won't be easy to press
4. Use regular rice flour or those marked as idiyappam flour. If the rice flour is too glutinous, the idiyappam won't taste good
5. Sprinkle more coconut on top before serving if that makes you happy

Putt- Steamed Rice Cake

Puttu – steamed rice cake layered with coconut is the traditional breakfast item in Kerala, Southern most state of India. Puttu can be otherwise explained as steamed cylinders of rice powder layered with coconut.
There are a variety of side dish combination for Puttu. Puttu & Banana, Puttu & Kadala (chick pea curry),  Puttu, Cherupayar Thoran (Green Gram Stir Fry) & Pappad etc
The beauty of the dish is not only in its taste but also the easiness to prepare!To steam Puttu in a cylindrical shape you need a Puttu maker or Puttu Kutti. Now a days you get Chiratta Put Maker also.

The Puttu Maker has 2 parts: Puttu Kudam (Pot in which water is boiled) and Puttu Kutti (cylindrical steamer kept over the pot)

Chiratta Putt Kutti is something which is similar to the above, but we assemble the chiratta Putt Kutti in a Cooker.
                                  

 

Ingredients:-

Raw Rice(Pachari) - 1/2 kg
Coconut - 1/2 of one
Water - to sprinkle
Salt - As reqd

Method:-

• Soak rice in water for 4 hrs.
• Leave it to drain and grind it to make fine powder.
• Heat the powder for 5 minutes. While heating it, keep on stirring.
• Keep the fried powder to cool.
• Mix salt with water and sprinkle this to the powdered rice just to make the powder wet(do not put a lot of water).
• For making puttu, use PUTTUKUTTI. Put a handful of grated coconut in the puttu kutty and then put rice powder till half followed by another handful of grated coconut. This is done till the top. Close the lid and steam it for 2 minutes.

Note :  

• Instead of making puttu powder, you can use rice flour (1 cup) instead and follow the same procedure to make it.
• Serve puttu hot.
• Best combination for puttu is with Kadala Curry