Soft Puttu with Anil Rice Flour — Easy Traditional Breakfast Recipe

Some breakfasts don't need a single spice to feel special. Puttu is one of them  steamed rice flour and coconut, layered by hand and cooked until it turns soft, fluffy, and almost weightless on the fork. Made with Anil Rice Flour, it comes out lump-free and even every time, because the flour itself is milled fine and consistent, so there's no guesswork in getting the texture right. Pair it with ripe banana and jaggery for the classic Kerala-style start to the day, or go savoury with a spicy kadala curry on the side. Here's how to get it right, step by step.

Ingredients You'll Need

Main Ingredients

For Serving

Kitchen Tools

• Puttu kutti (traditional cylindrical steamer with perforated plate)
• Wide mixing bowl
• Fine sieve or strainer
• Steamer base or wide-mouthed pot for boiling water
• Serving plate

Getting the Flour Right

Almost every puttu problem traces back to one thing: how much water goes into the flour. Get that right and the rest of the recipe is easy.

Start with the right flour. Anil Rice Flour is milled fine and even, which matters more than most people expect. Uneven grains cook unevenly too; some parts of the puttu turn sticky while others stay dry and crumbly. A consistent, fine flour steams into something uniformly soft without you having to compensate for it.

Moisten it  don't wet it. This is where most people go wrong: adding too much water too fast. The flour should never turn into a batter or dough. Sprinkle the water in gradually and rub it through with your fingertips, the way you'd rub butter into pastry. You're looking for a texture like slightly damp breadcrumbs  it should hold together briefly if you press it in your fist, then fall apart easily when you tap it.

Have the coconut ready. Fresh grated coconut is what gives puttu its richness and a hint of natural sweetness between the layers. Keep it loose, not packed down, so it spreads evenly once you start layering.

[Image: moistened rice flour and grated coconut ready for layering]

Step-by-Step Recipe

Once the flour is moistened properly, the actual cooking  layering and steaming  takes well under ten minutes.

Step 1: Moisten the rice flour Add the Anil Rice Flour to a wide bowl with a pinch of salt. Sprinkle in water a little at a time, mixing continuously with your fingertips, and stop the moment it turns crumbly and slightly damp. It should never clump into a solid mass.

Cover the bowl and let it rest for 8 to 10 minutes. This gives the water time to spread evenly through every grain  skip it, and you'll likely end up with a gritty bite.

Step 2: Sieve the flour Pass the rested flour through a fine strainer, breaking up any lumps with your fingers as you go. This keeps it packing evenly into the puttu kutti so it steams through without dense, undercooked patches.

Step 3: Get the steamer going Fill the base of the puttu kutti (or your steamer pot) with water and bring it to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Don't rush this part  puttu cooks through steady steam pressure, and a weak boil will leave the centre undercooked.

Step 4: Layer the flour and coconut Fit the perforated plate into the cylinder. Add a thin layer of coconut, then a layer of strained rice flour, pressing each down just enough to settle it  not to pack it tight. Keep alternating coconut and flour until the cylinder is full, and finish with coconut on top.

Packing the layers too tightly is the most common mistake here. It blocks the steam from moving through and leaves the middle dense. Keep everything loose.

Step 5: Steam it Attach the filled cylinder to the boiling base, cover, and steam on medium-high for 8 to 10 minutes. You'll know it's done when a strong, steady stream of steam pushes through the opening in the top that's your clearest sign the heat has made it all the way through.

Step 6: Unmould and serve Remove the cylinder and use the puttu kutti's pusher (or the handle of a long spoon) to gently push the cooked puttu out onto a plate. It should hold its shape while still soft enough to flake apart with a fork.

Serve hot, right away, with sliced banana and jaggery on the side and a little extra coconut on top. For something savoury instead, pair it with kadala curry.

Tips for Getting It Right Every Time

• Don't skip the resting time. Letting the moistened flour sit for 8–10 minutes is what stops the centre from tasting dry or floury.
• Keep the layers loose. Puttu needs steam to move freely through the cylinder  press each layer down just enough to settle it, never firmly.
• Wait for a full boil before you steam. Starting too early slows the cooking down and can leave the puttu unevenly done.

[Video: complete recipe video for Soft Puttu with Anil Rice Flour]

Variations Worth Trying

Puttu with chana masala or kadala curry — Skip the sweet pairing altogether and serve it warm with a spiced black chickpea curry, the classic savoury breakfast combination across Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu.

Sweet puttu with mashed banana — Instead of banana on the side, mash a ripe one into a coarse pulp and mix it directly into a portion of the puttu with a little jaggery syrup. Popular with kids especially.

You might also like our step-by-step guide to the perfect Semiya Payasam using Anil Roasted Payasam Vermicelli.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

Values are approximate and will vary based on exact quantities and coconut content.