VELLA PUTTU

                                      NAVARATHRI DAY - 4 (She is called Annapurna Devi)

This Vella Puttu has mentally carried me to my native place Salem and my home....a flash back is now running in my mind....where those days, the rice flour used to be hand pound, then sieved several times......my mom and sister were experts and I also used to always extend a hand, whenever such laborious things were made at home.....Probably, that's why, I remember it so well, everything is vivid in my memory.....this morning, my sister told me that  Vella Puttu is so special for neivedhyam during Navarathri, she also said, Ambal loves it...
This is the first time I am making.....I was a bit hesitant...For puttu, the grainy, sand like texture is very very important, and also the time you switch off jaggery.....thank Goddess......she was beside me, I think.....I did some short cuts, and proudly told my sister also to follow these steps...who is there to hand pound rice nowadays???

Ingredients

 Very fine rice rava   - 3/4 cup (I had fine idli rava and used that only)

Jaggery - 3/4 cup less 2 tbsps (If your sweet level is a bit high, then you can add equal amount too)

Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Ghee - 5-6 tsps

Cashews - 6-7 broken

Grated coconut - 2 tsps

Recipe Cuisine: South Indian; Category: Neivedhyam/ Festival delicacies

Prep time: 15 mts; Cooking time: 45 mts

Serves 5-6

3/4 cup rice rava, pulsed couple of times

Roasted to golden colour, keeping the flames on the lowest, till a nice aroma comes

Allow it to cool down for 10 minutes, then give a quick pulse couple of times

You should be able to draw a line, that  shows, the rava has been roasted to perfection. . If you can't draw a line, you better roast some more

Pour water till jaggery immerses, once it melts, then....

strain to check impurities

Put the roasted rava in a broad mouthed pan, add turmeric powder and cardamom powder to it.

Take roughly 1/2 cup lukewarm water, don't pour, sprinkle little by little, and...

keep mixing. It will resemble bread crumbs, and the time to stop is, when you take some and hold it in your palms, a ball will form, but  when you drop it, it will dissimilate

Wet a clean cloth, put this water-mixed rava on it....

tie a bundle, and steam for 30 minutes.

Open up the bundle, this is how it will look

Spread it on a wide mouthed pan, if there are small lumps, you can break with your hands too.

Now comes the toughest part...making jaggery paagu...set it to boil

Keep a plate nearby with water in it

Boiling nicely

Check by pouring little in the water...a soft, jelly like ball will form..You must switch off immediately and 

Pour this jaggery syrup on the cooled down  cooked rava

Mix well

In 3 tsps ghee, roast the cashews and add.

In the rest of the ghee, roast the coconut till they are golden and 

add. Definitely this much ghee is required, otherwise, when you eat, it will choke in your throat.

The grainy, உதிர்  உதிரான Vella Puttu is ready!!!!

Notes

*Those days, it was customary to add a handful of half cooked tur dhal also. 

*I did not do it, this way, Puttu stays fresh even for a month, ofcourse, refrigerated. With tur dhal, that too in a  humid place like Chennai, it may not stay fresh.

Categories: Festival Delicacies, Janmashtami neivedhyams, Navarathri Neivedhyams