Aval Puttu

My periamma makes pittu for 'Shivrathri' as one of the Thiruvilaiyaadal puranam story goes that The Lord carried loads of sand to help out an old lady who did not have a son to volunteer in the building of a dam across the river by the Pandya King. In return he wanted pittu to eat.

In Chennai, most people make arisi pittu on the Friday during Navrathri. It is a bit laborious to make arisi pittu, but you will be rewarded for your labour with the results. Aval pittu is much easier to cook. So I decided to have it on last Friday for neivedhyam and am posting the recipe that I enjoyed.
Ingredients:
1 cup beaten rice/poha/aval (thick variety)
1/3 cups powdered jaggery
¼ cup dessicated coconut
¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
10 cashew nuts broken and fried in little ghee
2 tablespoons ghee.
A pinch of salt.

In a heavy, roast the beaten rice turning it constantly until it puffs up. Cool and transfer to the jar of a blender and pulse on very slow speed to crush the poha coarsely.
Add a pinch of salt to the crushed poha and add ¼ cup of warm water and mix with the tips of fingers.Take care that it does not form lumps but hlods the coarse texture. Keep aside and let it soften. Transfer this to a clean cloth, cover as a bundle and steam for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat, cool on a broad plate and add the coconut.
Dissolve jaggery in 50 ml water and place on the stove. Allow to boil and thicken to form a syrup. Test the thickness by dropping few drops in water and trying to collect them in tiny balls that are soft. At this point remove from the heat.
Pour this over the spread poha –coconut mixture. Mix well. Add Cardamom powder.
Put ghee in a heavy pan on the stove and when ghee is warm, add to the above mixed ingredients. Toss for a couple of minutes and add the nuts.
The pittu is ready to serve.

This goes to Steamed treats event hosted by Shruthi.

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