Puttu with Kadala Curry

Ingredients

• 200g dried black chickpeas (kala chana)
• 300g coarse roasted rice flour (puttu podi)
• 120g freshly grated coconut
• 1 tsp salt, for the puttu
• About 200ml warm water, for the puttu
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 15 fresh curry leaves
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2.5cm piece ginger, finely chopped
• 2 green chillies, slit
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp salt, for the curry
• 60g grated coconut, for roasting
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, for roasting
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, for roasting
• 4 dried red chillies, for roasting

Before you cook

• Cover the black chickpeas with plenty of cold water and soak them for 8 hours or overnight.
• Slice the onion, crush the garlic, chop the ginger and tomato, and slit the green chillies.
• Grate the coconut and divide it into 120g for the puttu and 60g for roasting.

Steps

1. Drain the soaked chickpeas, tip them into a pressure cooker with 700ml of fresh water and half a teaspoon of salt, and cook for 20 minutes at high pressure. Without a pressure cooker, simmer them in a covered pan for about 1 hour 15 minutes until tender.
2. Set a dry frying pan over a medium heat and add the 60g of coconut with the coriander seeds, fennel seeds and dried chillies.
3. Roast the mixture for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until the coconut is a deep chestnut brown and smells toasted. Do not walk away, as it turns bitter the moment it burns.
4. Blend the roasted mixture with 150ml of water to a smooth dark paste and set it aside.
5. Heat the coconut oil in a heavy pan over a medium heat and add the mustard seeds.
6. When the seeds pop, add the curry leaves, onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies and fry for 8 minutes until the onion is golden at the edges.
7. Stir in the turmeric and chilli powder and cook for 30 seconds.
8. Add the tomato and cook for 5 minutes, pressing it down with the spoon until it collapses into the onions.
9. Tip in the cooked chickpeas along with their cooking liquid, add the remaining salt, and simmer for 10 minutes.
10. Stir in the roasted coconut paste and simmer for another 10 minutes, until the gravy is dark, thick and glossy. Taste and adjust the salt.
11. For the puttu, put the rice flour and salt in a wide bowl and sprinkle over the warm water a little at a time, rubbing it through with your fingertips.
12. Keep adding water until the flour holds its shape when squeezed in your fist but crumbles apart cleanly when you press it. This is the whole trick, so go slowly.
13. Pass the damp flour through a coarse sieve or break up the lumps by hand so it is loose and fluffy.
14. Fill the base of a puttu steamer with water and bring it to the boil.
15. Spoon a tablespoon of grated coconut into the puttu cylinder, then a loose layer of the damp flour, and repeat the layers to the top without pressing down.
16. Fit the cylinder onto the steamer and steam for 7 to 8 minutes, until steam puffs steadily from the top.
17. Push the puttu out onto a plate with the handle of a wooden spoon and steam the next batch.
18. Serve the hot puttu with the kadala curry ladled alongside.