Aval Puttu / Poha Puttu

Navratri can never be complete without Puttu which is considered to be a very auspicious sweet dish and is served along with sundal.
Though I have tasted rice puttu , I found aval puttu interesting as it seemed quite easy to make ( as compared to rice puttu ofcourse!). Also it did not require the puttu maker . So the recipe for aval puttu is as follows:

Inactive prep time - 30 mins

Active prep time - 5 mins

Cooking time - 30 mins

Ingredients :

Aval / poha - 1 cup, thick

Jaggery- 1/2 cup , roughly crushed

Coconut - 1/4 cup, shredded

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Cashew nuts - 1-2 tbsp

Raisins - 1 tbsp

Salt - a pinch

Other things required:

A clean cotton cloth or a clean men's handkerchief

Procedure :

Soak the jaggery in 1/4 cup of water half an hour prior to cooking.

Take a big wok and dry roast the aval / poha on medium to high heat, stirring constantly till it turns golden brown. Make sure that you don't burn it.

Once they change color , transfer into a big plate and cool. Once cool transfer it into the blender and grind it coarsely (rava-like). 

Transfer into the same plate and add a pinch of salt. Simultaneously bring about 1/4 cup of water to boil.

Take a tea spoon and add about 2-3 measures of water into the powdered coarse aval/poha and mix with your finger tips. Repeat this process till the powdered aval/poha resembles bread crumbs (refer the picture above). At this stage you should be able to make a ball with the aval in your palms. And it should seperate and fall loosely when you try to disintegrate it. [ i.e your poha should not stay lumpy but should have just enough moisture to be able to hold it in a ball initially. It took me 9-10 tsp of water to get the desired texture].

Keep this aval/poha-water  mix covered for about 5-10 mins . Transfer it into a clean cloth and steam it for 15 mins approx. [ I steamed it in a pressure cooker ]

Now once cooked transfer it into a plate. Add cardomom powder and coconut to the poha and mix with your finger tips properly.[ I used frozen coconut, so I thawed before adding to the poha . Alternatively ( and to enhance the taste ) pan fry coconut in a tsp of ghee till it slightly changes color and then add to the poha ]

Filter the jaggery along with the water in a tea strainer and remove all the impurities. In a wok heat the jaggery till it thickens. [Keep a small bowl with cold water next to you to test the thickness]. Once the jaggery comes into boil start testing the thickness by dropping a tsp of jaggery into cold water.If it forms a lump without disintegrating then the syrup or paagu is ready. [ If it disintegrates then you need to boil it more ].

Turn of the heat once you get the right syrup, pour it over the aval - coconut mixture and mix properly with your fingers without any lumps.

In a wok heat ghee. Add in the cashews and fry. Once they turn golden brown add in the raisins and fry till the raisins puff up.  At ths stage add in the puttu / aval- coconut -jaggery mix and toss it for few seconds and serve.
 [ If you feel that your puttu has lot of moisture toss it in ghee for few more mins ]. The color of puttu depends on the jaggery used.