Pittu

Pittu

Steamed coconut and red rice flour rolls

A Tamil breakfast staple: steamed, layered tubes of coconut and rice flour pearls. The ‘bamboo’ comes from the fact it is traditionally made in bamboo stalks. Hindu legend has it that the god Lord Shiva came to earth disguised as a man, and carried earth on his head for an old lady in exchange for this modest but tasty dish. Try with the Lunu Dehi Sambola and Katta Sambo.

katta sambola

• 500g (1lb 2oz/31/4 cups) roasted red rice flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 250ml (9 fl oz/generous 1 cup) cold water
• 150g (51/2oz/2 cups) freshly grated or desiccated (shredded) coconut

Special utensil

• Bamboo pittu steame

Pittu Bambuwa

1. Put the flour in a large bowl, add the salt and mix it together with your fingers.
2. Sprinkle a little bit of water at a time onto the flour. Using your fingertips, lightly mix the flour and water together in a circular motion. The mixture will begin to bind together into little lumps.
3. When it is just lumping together, tip in half the coconut and continue the process of adding water and lightly mixing. The little lumps will firm up and turn into small pearl-sized balls about 1/2cm (1/4 inch) wide on the top of the mixture. Remove these balls as they form, and set aside. Keep mixing lightly with your fingertips until all the dough has turned into these pittu balls.
4. Fill the bottom of the bamboo pittu steamer with water and put it on a high heat to boil. Place the small disc with holes into the bottom of the tube. Put 1 heaped tablespoon of coconut into the tube, followed by spoonfuls of raw pittu balls until about halfway up the tube, and then another tablespoon of coconut. Repeat these steps, finishing with the coconut.
5. Place the tube on the steamer and steam until the steam comes out of the top of the tube, roughly 8–10 minutes. At this stage put the lid on the tube and steam for a further 3–4 minutes.
6. Lift the tube off the steamer bottom and, using the handle of a long wooden spoon inserted into the small hole in the bottom of the tube, push the steamed pittu onto a serving dish (with a lid). Cover so the pittu does not dry out while you make the rest.
7. Repeat this process until all the raw pittu are steamed. Serve warm.