Red rice puttu.... a very healthy breakfast option

Red rice puttu is so soft and tender to touch and eat that you can never say no to it. We consider it a very good and healthy option for breakfast. The aroma of warm puttu mixed with coconut is just the perfect dish when you want to have a breakfast that is healthy, filling, oil-free and the best part .... very tasty. Making it is also not very time consuming except that you would have to plan it a day in advance..... but believe me ... hands on time is very less. I got introduced to this recipe from my mil. The first time she made it for me and my hubby.... I knew that I would sure make it again. She makes cooking a breeze... and she taught me this dish too

Red rice is loaded with antioxidants, fibre, iron, vitamins and a lot more. Google it up to check for all the nutritional values that is filled with. Its good to include red rice it in your diet once in a while and I am sure this puttu should be in your try list to enjoy the taste in a simple way

There are a couple of ways this dish is made. I follow my mil's recipe and since it is perfect I never bothered to try other recipes

  

Serves... 2 ppl

Serve option... Warm or room temp

This is what u'll need...

Red rice - 1 cup
Shredded Coconut - 3-4 tbspns
Naatu sakakrai or unrefined sugar - 3-4 tbspns
Sugar - 1 tspn
Salt a couple of pinches

Here is the stir....

• Measure 1 cup of red rice into a bowl

• Wash and rinse it clean. Pour enough water to soak the rice for about 2-3 hours

• Once soaked drain the water using a strainer

• Now spread the rice in a single layer on a kitchen towel to dry it a little

• Let this rest for some time till most of the water is dried up but the rice doesnt completely dry up

• Transfer the damp rice into a blender jar

• Grind it a very fine powder. Scrape the sides during grinding to make sure there are no big particles in the flour

• Transfer this to a wide bowl

• Add couple of pinches of salt to the flour

• Pour or sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of water on the rice flour

• Use your fingers to mix water into the flour evenly. Eventually after rubbing in a little the mix will look like fine bread crumbs. Make sure there are no lumps else they will turn hard

• Wet a thin cloth and place it in your steamer bowl. Spread the flour mixture on the cloth

• Cover it loosely by pulling the edges of the cloth 

• Steam this for about 2-25 minutes. I use my rice cooker for this purpose as I feel the handling is easier

• Leave this as it is to rest overnight

• In the morning open the cloth and use your fingers to rub through the flour once again to make it look like fine crumbs. There might be some lumps here and there, make sure you break them and make it powdery

• Steam this again for about 15-20 mins. Turn off the heat and wait for a few minutes till the heat goes down and it is easy to handle. Transfer this to a wide bowl

• Add shredded coconut to the puttu. You can adjust the quantity as per your liking

• Spoon in some naatu sakkarai or unrefined sugar into the bowl

• Add a teaspoon of sugar to the bowl. This is optional but my kids love to see the crystals of sugar on top .... so I add a little amount

• Mix well till everything is blended properly

• Serve at room temp garnished with a little more coconut if needed

Note: 

• Steaming twice is the main part when making red rice puttu. It is the secret to make soft puttu
• Naatu sakkarai is good health but if you dont like the taste or are not very health conscious then just go ahead and add regular sugar
• Sometimes there are some lumps of flour here and there. In case you end up with a lot of  them then never mind I have a trick for you. After double steaming the flour, just give it couple of quick pulses(just a few quick ones) in the mixer and you should have it fine and powdery as you would want it to be