Pittu

Ingredients

Flour

• 400 gred rice flour, or roasted white rice flour
• 1 tspsalt
• about 200 ml warm water

Coconut

• 150 gfreshly grated coconut
• or 100 g desiccated coconut, moistened

To serve

• thick coconut milk, kiri
• lunu miris, chilli and onion sambol
• seeni sambol, caramelised onion relish
• or with a fish or chicken curry

Equipment

• a pittu bambuwa, bamboo tube steamer, or a pittu mould

Directions

1. Let it cool completely before adding any water. Add warm water to the flour a very little at a time, rubbing it through with your fingertips. Never pour the water in, and add it in sprinkles rather than in a stream.
2. Rub it constantly as you add water, breaking up any lumps that form.
3. Squeeze a handful in your fist: it should hold its shape briefly and then crumble apart cleanly when you poke it. If it stays in a solid lump it is too wet, and if it will not hold at all it is too dry.
4. Put a layer of coconut in the bottom of the tube, then a layer of the flour crumb, and alternate.
5. Fill it loosely and do not press or pack it down at all. Finish with a layer of coconut on top. Now steam it for ten to fifteen minutes.
6. Set the tube over a pot of vigorously boiling water so the steam is forced up through it. It is ready when steam comes out of the top of the tube freely and the pittu smells cooked.
7. Serve it immediately while hot. Pour thick coconut milk over it, which is the standard Sri Lankan way and softens the crumb. Serve lunu miris, the raw chilli and onion sambol, alongside, or seeni sambol for something sweeter.

Technique

• The flour must be roasted so it stays crumbly rather than gluey.
• The squeeze test decides the moisture, and no measurement replaces it.
• The mould must be filled loosely so steam can pass through.

Substitutions

• White rice flour in place of red, giving a milder result.
• Desiccated coconut moistened first, in place of fresh.

Variations

• Made with white rice flour.
• Sweet pittu, with jaggery and banana.
• Steamed in a coconut shell, as in Kerala.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pittu?

Pittu is a breakfast from Sri Lanka: steamed cylinders of rice flour layered with coconut, eaten with coconut milk.

How long does Pittu take to make?

Pittu takes 25 min of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 cylinders. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Pittu?

Yes, within limits. White rice flour in place of red, giving a milder result. Desiccated coconut moistened first, in place of fresh.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pittu?

Let it cool completely before adding any water. Add warm water to the flour a very little at a time, rubbing it through with your fingertips. Never pour the water in, and add it in sprinkles rather than in a stream.