Breakfast Time

India has a variety of breakfast options to choose from. Right from aapam and stews to idli, medu vadas, parathas, poha and puri aloo to akuri and sausage and bread. One of my Sunday favourites have been puttu kadala (steamed rice flour and black chana curry).

It usually fills you up so much that you end up nibbling at lunch or skipping it all together. Here's how you make the scrumptious breakfast.

Ingredients:

For Puttu

• 2 cups rice flour
• 3/4 cup grated coconut
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup water

For kadala curry (black chana curry)

• 2 cups black chana soaked in water
• 4 cloves to garlic
• 2 inch piece ginger
• handful of curry leaves
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp grated coconut
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 tomato chopped
• 3-4 red chilies
• 1/2 tsp garam masala

Method:

• To make puttu, rice flour, salt and water to form a dough.
• The dough shouldn't be as sticky as for roti, but should be able to hold itself together.
• You can either wrap the dough in a linen cloth and steam it in an idli cooker or get yourself a puttu cooker to steam it in.
• Steam it for 10-12 minutes and garnish with grated coconut. You could also steam the coconut along with the dough.

• Now, for the kadala curry, pressure cook the black chana with ginger and curry leaves till it is done.
• In the meantime, heat oil in a pan and saute red chillies, garlic, coriander seeds and cumin seeds.
• Cook it on a medium flame till it gives out a nice fragrance.
• Add grated coconut and cook it for two more minutes.
• Grind the mixture into a fine paste.
• In a pan, saute onions till it becomes translucent, add chopped tomato, the masala paste and add this to the cooked chana.
• Let it simmer for two minutes, add garam masala and some coconut milk if you want the gravy to be thicker.

Serve hot with puttu