On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 7:41 AM, Abhijit Menon-Sen <[email protected]> wrote:
> At 2009-06-03 22:09:54 +0530, [email protected] wrote: > > > > Please...offlist if necessary...send me the recipe, meaning, the > > proportions, for this. > > I saw no reason to take it off-list, especially since Radhika wants the > recipe too. OK. > > > You use approximately twice as much fine rice powder as (preferably > fresh, but we've often used frozen too) grated coconut. You have to wet > the rice a little (you want wet rice powder, not dough) and mix with the > coconut and salt to taste. Layer them roughly inside the magic cylinder. > > Personally, I put in a tiny bit more salt than one might normally think > necessary, because then you can eat the resulting puttu on its own, and > it's delicious. Otherwise you eat it with sugar. Or a banana. Or kadala > curry, of course. Fine. All this I understand. > > > > But tell me some substitute for the "kutti" > > Ah well, now if you don't have a small cylindrical metal child handy… > let me describe the process, and you can improvise. The device is meant > to hold the raw material in its cylindrical shape while conveying steam > through it. What one does is to put a little water in a pressure cooker, > switch it on and put the cylinder—open—on the spout. When steam starts > to come out of the top, you put the lid on the cylinder and steam it for > 5min. Now this part I don't. What do you mean, put the vessel "on the spout"? My pressure cooker has a body and a lid with a spout that spews out water vapour. Am I supposed to put it on top of the lid, on top of the spout? Or steam it in the body of the presssure cooker as usual? And...I don't have a cylinder (not even one I gave birth to), far less a lid...what do I do? > > > You might try adding a tiny bit more water to the mixture, and moulding > it into laddoo-like things for steaming. Or maybe you could steam them > in an idli dish, if you have one of those. You won't get cylindrical > puttu, but it should taste just as good. You'll have to experiment with > the timing. The properly cooked puttu should hold together, but be moist > and a little crumbly. OK, I'll try doing this....can I use idli plates? Inside the pressure cooker which will be closed but not have the weight on? > > > ., is your recipe different? Tambram "puttu" is made with chhana dal (gram dal) , and enormously different from, and enormously more laborious than, this puttu you have described.... Thanks, will let you know how this turned out. Radhika! I want your dessert recipe now. Please. I am not a creative cook, and need a stimulus package of recipes.... Deepa.
