Chammanthi Curry..(kerala)

Now, this is an everyday curry from Kerala, that goes with some breakfast foods. Its the side dish/curry for Dosa or Idli, which are breakfast items in the Southern states of India as you all may be aware of already. I love this simple curry, as it goes very well with hot- from the- pan- Dosa. Reminds me so much of my mom and childhood and my native place. This is loved by my kids too. So, here goes.


1: Shredded fresh/ frozen Coconut                                              -            1 cup

2: Red chilly                                                                                - 6-7 nos.

3: Shallots( small red onions)                                                       -2

4. Curry leaves                                                                           - 1 sprig

5: Cumin                                                                                    - 1 tbsp

6: Salt                                                                                         - required

Grind all the above ingredients adding a little water, into a fine paste and keep aside.


For Garnish:

1: Mustard seeds                                                                       - 1 tsp

2: Curry leaves                                                                           - 1 sprig

3: Red chilly                                                                               - 1 (pieced)

4: Shallot                                                                                    - 1-2 cut into small pieces

Now, heat a pan with  2 tbsp of cooking oil. (Coconut oil would be perfect). Into the heated oil put the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Then add the pieces of shallots, red chilly and curry leaves and let them fry a bit. Into this, pour the ground mixture of coconut (chutney/chammanthi). Add a little water and get it into the flowing consistency of the curry. Do not dilute it too much. Remember to add enough salt and turn off the heat before the Chammanthi curry/ chutney starts boiling. Use it with dosa or idli. Enjoy!

Crab Curry...

I made some Crab Masala/curry a few weeks' backs and had meant to post the pictures and recipe but just got too busy with other stuff going on. Now here goes the recipe for you to try, maybe. I used blue crabs, you can try with any type that is edible.

Ingredients:-

1:  Blue Crabs                                                                         -    4-5 no.s

2: Red large onion                                                                    -  2  no.s

3: Green Chilly (split)                                                               -  3- 4

4: Tomato                                                                                - 2 large

5: Garam Masala/ meat masala                                                -  1 tsp

6: Turmeric Powder                                                                 - 1 tsp

7: Chilly Powder                                                                     - 1- 1 1/2 tbsp( depending on the
                                                                                                                  degree of spiciness reqd)

8: Coriander Powder                                                               - 1 tbsp

9: Ginger n garlic or
    ginger garlic paste                                                               -  1 tbsp

10: Curry Leaves:                                                                   - 1-2 sprigs

11: Salt                                                                                  - to taste

Prep:

Wash and clean the crab and cut them into medium pieces, discarding the end part of the legs. Break the legs into small pieces and smash the big hard parts of legs a little so that its easy to get at the meat after cooking. Slice the onions and keep them aside.

To cook: 

Place a pan on the stove and add olive/ any cooking oil to it. Once the oil is hot, add the ginger/garlic paste. Stir it around until the raw smell of the paste diminishes. Then, add the onion slices and stir it around until its almost translucent. To this, add all the powders- the turmeric, chilly, coriander, and garam masala/ meat masala and stir some more until the powders are cooked a bit along with the onion mixture. Add the green chilies and tomatoes to the mixture and soon add the crab to it along with the needed amount of salt.

 Stir the whole thing around a bit and then close the pan and let the crab cook well .The crab turns a orangish color as its well cooked. Depending on the consistency of the curry/ masala you need, turn off the stove and garnish the crab curry with coriander and curry leaves and serve it hot with rice.If you think you need more curry you can grind some fresh coconut and add the mixture to the crab and let it simmer a while before garnishing the curry. Hope you enjoy the crab curry.

Butternut Squash/Pumpkin n Red Gram Curry...

During my days in the YWCA, I used to love some of the curries they made there. Especially their Pumpkin curry with Rice and fried fish. I have tried to attain the same taste level I remember from my days @ the Y, but as it's known, no two people's cooking usually tastes alike. So, I have not got the exact same taste in my curry like the one @ the Y, but somewhat similar. I am sure your curry wouldn't taste the same way the pumpkin curry I'd made tasted. Anyways here goes. I used Butternut Squash this time though. It's very similar, the pumpkin n the butternut squash.

Ingredients:

1: Butternut Squash/ Pumpkin                                       -  1 full cup chopped into medium pieces

2 Red Gram/ green gram (payaru )                                  -1 cup (cooked)

3: Onion                                                                       - 1/4 of a medium onion

4: Green chilly                                                               -2 nos.

5: Mustard                                                                     -1 tsp

6: Red Chilly                                                                  - 2 (cut for garnishing)

7: Salt                                                                           - To taste

8: Curry Leaves                                                            - A sprig( to garnish)

9: Oil                                                                            -4 tbsp

To Grind:

1: Grated coconut                                                       - 1/2 cup

2: Garlic pods                                                             - 2- 3 

3: Cumin seeds                                                           - 1 tbsp

4:  Dry Coriander seeds                                              - 1 tbsp

5: Shallots( small onions)                                            - 2 nos( finely sliced)

6: Curry leaves                                                           - a sprig

7: Turmeric Powder                                                  - 1 tsp

8: Red chilies - 5 nos

Method:

Grind all the second list of ingredients and put aside. Heat a wok/ deep pan and 2 tbsp of oil into the pan/wok and as it warms up add the onion to it. As the onion turns translucent, add the butternut/ pumpkin pieces into it and stir a bit. You can also add the green chilies to the mixture and close the pan with a lid and let the squash/pumpkin cook for 2- 3 minutes. Mix in the cooked red/green gram and stir it all well. Add a little salt to the mixture and let it cook in medium heat until the vegetable pieces start to get tender. Now, add the ground coconut and masala to it, with the required amount of water, check for salt and keep the lid on. Let the curry boil. Before taking off the stove, check if there is enough salt if so turn off the heat.

Heat another pan with 2 tbsp of oil, as the oil heats up, add the mustard seeds. Let them splutter and then add the sliced shallot pieces, the pieces of red chilly and the remaining curry leaves. As it all starts slightly browning take it off the stove and add it to the curry for garnish. You can also add some cilantro/ coriander leaves for garnish.

Now enjoy your Butternut squash/ Pumpkin n beans curry with your rice or Chappathi.

Parippu Vada/ Masala Vada

This is a favorite snack of most South Indians. It has many names I guess. We call it Parippu vada in Kerala my native place. It is made out of Channa Dhaal mainly. You need to soak it in water for 2-3 hours and then grind it along with a few other ingredients before cooking.

 Ingredients:

1: Channa dhaal/ Kadala Parippu                                      - 2-3  cups( washed n soaked for 2-3 hrs )

2: Dry red chilly                                                                 -8-10 numbers

3: Curry leaves                                                                 -2- 3 sprigs

4: Ginger:                                                                         - one small piece( not necessary)

5: Asafoetida/ Hing/Perunkaayam/ kaayam                        - 2 tbsp

6: Fennel seeds/ Perum jeerakam/Sombu                          -3 tbsp

7:Salt                                                                               - 2 tbsp or as required

 Grind:

Coarsely grind all the above ingredients without adding any water.

 To Cut and mix in:

1: Onion:                                                                                    -1 whole onion, finely cut

2: Cilantro/coriander leaves:                                                         -1/2 a bunch, cut                     

3: Curry leaves                                                                              1 sprig, cut


Add all these into the ground mixture and check for salt.

To Fry:

 Heat enough oil in a deep pan for frying. As the oil comes to boil, take a little of the Vada mixture and ball it, then flatten it out like small cookies and drop one by one into the oil for frying. As one side slightly browns, turn all the Vadas to the other side for cooking. The finished product would be golden to dark brown. This spicy vada goes well with tea or coffee, especially on a rainy day..enjoy.

Yoghurt curry/Mor Kuzhambu/ Moru curry

My son loves this curry. It's hard to make him take plain yogurt with rice usually, but if it's mixed in as with this curry with, along with any vegetable that goes with it, he would want it until it gets over. He really loves this yogurt curry. See if you might like it too.


Ingredients:

1:  Cabbage/ green plantain/potato/okra                         -  cut to pieces,1 cup

2: Onion                                                                       -1/2 a medium onion

3: Uraad Dhaal / Black gram                                        - 4 tbsp

4: Curry leaves                                                            - a sprig

5: Dry red chilly                                                            -2 in number(broken)

6: Plain Yoghurt/ Plain Curd                                        -1 cup ( run thru a blender and smoothened)

7: Salt                                                                        - to taste

8: Black Mustard seeds                                              - 1 tsp  

9: Oil                                                                         - 2 tbsp                          


For grinding to a paste:

1: shredded coconut                                                 -1/2 cup

2: Jeera/Cumin seeds                                               -1 tbsp

3: Garlic                                                                 - 3-4  pieces

4: Green chilly                                                           -6-7 numbers( depending on how hot u need it)

5: Curry leaves:                                                       - a few sprigs

6:Ginger                                                                  - an inch size

7: Turmeric powder:                                                 - 1 tsp



Prep Method:

First, grind all the second list of ingredients together to a fine paste and keep it aside. Wash the Uraad Dhaal and cook it in a closed pan adding water, salt, and turmeric to it. As the dhaal/lentil is half cooked, add the onion and the Cabbage/ Plantain/Potato/Okra (either one of them)  and let it cook for a while. To this, add the ground paste of coconut and check for salt. As the vegetables and the dhaal are fully cooked, turn the heat down to very mild and add the smoothened curd/yogurt to the mixture. Turn off the heat before the curd starts curdling or when the curry is slightly warmed. You really do not want the Yoghurt curry to cuddle up. That would be really unsightly and unappetizing to look at. So remember to really reduce the heat just before adding Yoghurt/Curd.

Now in another pan add a little oil and as it heats up, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter.To this immediately add the pieces of red chilly and curry leaves. Get it off the stove and pour this garnish over your Yohurt/ Moru curry and enjoy it with your rice. Usually something that  like fried fish/or any vegetable thoran/poriyal  goes very well with this as a side to the rice.
.

A new twist to Mint Rice...

I had decided on Mint rice yesterday. But had to slightly change the recipe on my partner's insistence. He wanted me to add chickpeas to it. It turned out pretty tasty by the way.

This measure feeds 6-7 people.


Ingredients:

(A)

1: Basmati Rice:                                                                    -   4 cups

2: Water                                                                               -8 cups(1:2 being the proportion of
                                                                                                          rice to water)

3: Onion                                                                                 -1 medium(thinly sliced)

4: Potato                                                                                -1, sliced to cubes

5: Chickpeas/ channa                                                            - 1 1/2 cups half-cooked

6: Mint                                                                                   - a sprig(garnish)

7: Cilantro/coriander leaves                                                     -2 sprigs(garnish)

8: Salt                                                                                   - as required

9: Ghee                                                                                 -3-4 spoons

(B)

For grinding to a Masala:

1: Mint:                                                                                -2 cups

2: Coriander/cilantro                                                            -1 cup

3: Green Chilly                                                                      -8-10 numbers(depending on the
                                                                                               degree of heat you like in the dish)

4: Black Pepper                                                                    -1/4 spoon

5: Cumin seeds                                                                      -1/4 spoon

6: Fennel seeds                                                                      -1/4 spoon

7: Cashew/ Almonds                                                              -10 numbers

8: Coconut(shredded)                                                            -2 spoons


9: Ginger                                                                               - 1 small piece( an inch )

10: Garlic:                                                                                -4 pieces


11: Cinnamon                                                                          - 1-2 pieces

12: Cloves                                                                             - 4 no.s

                                                             The masala, ground...

Method:

First, wash the Basmati rice and let it soak in water for 15-20 minutes. In a blender, grind to a fine paste, all the ingredients needed for the masala listed in the B category.

Heat a deep pan of at least 5-6 quarts (deep enough) and add the ghee. As the ghee is hot, add a piece of the cinnamon and 2 cloves into it and let them splutter. Then add the thinly sliced onion into the ghee and fry it to a slightly golden brown. To this, add the cubed potatoes and some salt and let it cook for 4-5 minutes.

 Then, add the ground masala into the potato/onion mixture. To this, mix in the 8 cups of water and check the mixture for salt. You got to add salt, keeping in mind that you need enough salt for the rice mixture when it is all cooked and ready. So add the required amount of salt to the water and let it boil.

As the greenish (because of the mint) water boils, drain the soaked rice and add it into the boiling mixture. Also, add the chick-peas in now. Check the rice mixture for salt and leave the heat to a medium. Let the rice soak up the water.The rice would only be half-cooked by then. As all the water is absorbed, turn off the heat and heat up the oven to 350 degree F.Cover the pan with a sheet of aluminium foil and place it in the oven and let the rice cook enough .You might need to leave the pan in the oven for at least 25-35 minutes . Take out the rice and garnish it with coriander/cilantro and mint and enjoy your biriyani .

Sides:

I used Raita ( plain yoghurt with cut onions, mixed in with salt) and fried fish as sides to this dish

                                                                   Raita

                                                       Fried fish ( Chicken curry/ fry would be a good side too)

Now enjoy your Mint Rice with a twist/ chick pea Biriyani..

Puff pastry with kheema filling....

Today, we had been expecting some guests for tea. As it turned out, they couldn't make it. I was left with the filling for the evening snack that I'd meant to make. Anyway, at my daughter's insistence, I made a batch of puffs with chicken and veggie filling. See if you like it.

Ingredients:

1: Puff pastry ( Pepperidge -farm or any grocery brand)               -    1 packet ( 1 packet is of 6 sheets)

2:  Minced chicken or ground chicken
(you could use ground Turkey too)                                                   - 1 small packet or 1 pound

3:  Mixed veggies   (carrots, beans, bell pepper,
      potato, onion, tomato )                                                            - all diced, altogether 1 cup

4. Ginger garlic paste or crushed ginger and garlic                           -1 tsp each

5. Chilly powder                                                                            -1 tbsp

6. Fennel powder & Cumin powder                                                - 1tsp each

7 .Turmeric powder                                                                       -1 tsp

8: Chicken Masala/ Meat Masala                                                   -1tsp

9: Coriander leaves/Cilantro                                                          -For garnishing

10: Curry leaves, a sprig                                                                  - For garnish

11: Salt                                                                                          - for taste

12: Oil                                                                                             -Any cooking oil

Method:

First, you need to make the filling for the puffs. Heat the oil in a pan and add the ginger garlic paste/ crushed ginger & garlic and stir it to lose its raw smell. Into it, add the curry leaves and the vegetables, also, add some salt and the turmeric powder and stir the vegetables in medium heat for 5 minutes. .Add the ground chicken into this mixture and stir well periodically so no lumps form. Add the chicken/meat masala, fennel, and Cumin powders. Check for salt and now you can close the pan and cook for a while. Break down the clustering if any does form. The chicken has to be well cooked until all the water is absorbed and the oil clears out. Mix in the cilantro and some more curry leaves. The kheema is ready, just let it cool awhile.

Meanwhile, get the puff pastry out of the freezer and let it thaw. Also, preheat the oven to 350-400 F. Break the sheets out and cut them each into 2 or three square/rectangle pieces, depending on the size you require your puffs to be.  Into these small square/rectangle sheets, take a small scoop of the kheema and place it in the middle and seal up the ends of the square. The ends will be easy to join as the pastry is quite sticky. Arrange these little, filled-in puffs, into cookie sheets or pans lined with aluminum foil. You can grease the cookie sheet or the aluminum foil put over the baking pan so that it's easy to pick up the done puffs later.

Put them in the oven and let it cook until the puffs start turning golden brown. This might take 12-16 minutes of baking. Turn off the oven and let them cool down and enjoy your puffs.

Raagi (finger millet) and Methi leaves (fenugreek) Adai/Ada

Raagi Ada is something I became familiar with while in my mother-in-law's kitchen. She makes this often, as it helps regulate sugar and has so many health benefits, she is told me. It is rich in calcium and has the ability to strengthen and cool our body. Now I, sometimes make this very South-Indian food as a snack @ home in the evenings. I have come to appreciate its taste and hope you will do too.

                                    I used dried Methi leaves, fresh would be definitely better, add fresh if you got em...

 Ingredients:

1: Raagi flour (കൂവരവ് )                                                     -1 and a 1/2cups 

2: Onion                                                                                    - 1/2 of a medium onion diced

3: Dry or fresh Methi leaves
    ( fenugreek/ vendhayam/ ഉലുവ ഇല  )                               -3-4 tbsp

 To fry:-

4: Curry leaves                                                                          - 1 sprig

5: Dry red chilly                                                                         - 3 no.s( broken to small pieces)

6: Channa Dhaal ( കടല പരിപ്പ്)                                         - 2tbsp

7: Uraad Dhaal   ( ഉഴുന്ന്  പരിപ്പ് )                                    - 2 tbs

8:Mustard                                                                                 - 1tsp

9: Oil :                                                                                       - 2 tbsp

Method of preparation:

In a pan, heat the oil and let the mustard seeds splutter, then add the Channa and Urad dhaals along with the curry leaves and the dry pieces of red chilly. To this, add the diced onions and stir to let it brown a bit. Turn the heat off and add this mixture into a mixing bowl. Mix the Raagi flour and the Methi leaves into the fried onion/dhaal mixture. Add salt according to your taste and knead the dough into the consistency of chappathis or rotis/soft flat breads. Then roll the flour into lemon sized balls.

Heat up a Tava or a flat pan and add a little oil and flatten the Raagi balls with first between your palm and fingers, and then with your fingers onto the pan. Turn it over and cook both sides and continue to cook well over a medium to low heat. You can sprinkle a little olive oil/ any cooking oil over the top to keep it from getting too dry, while on heat. Enjoy this as it is, you don't really need any sides with it, but you can use chutneys if you like to. This is a really great, healthy snack.

Kale and Channa Thoran/Poriyal

This is a recipe that is very common in our home . I mostly make this for my family  to add lots of greens to our diet.This Kale recipe is very simple and easy to make. Kale belongs to the cabbage family.

Ingredients:

1: Kale (Can be the green or the red variety)                                 - 1 Bunch

2: Channa ( Chick pea , the black or white variety)                        -  1 cup, cooked (canned will do too)

3: Onion                                                                                       -1/2 of an onion ,diced

4: Garlic                                                                                        -5 cloves,crushed or sliced thin

5: Turmeric powder                                                                       -  1 tsp    

6: Chilly powder                                                                            -11/2 tsp

7: Salt                                                                                            - as required

8: Olive Oil                                                                                    -2 tbsps

9: Mustard and                                                                               - 1 tsp

10 : Red chilly                                                                                -2 no.s(cut to pieces)

Method :

 Rinse the Kale and set it aside for the water to drain. Then cut the kale to medium size pieces. Put the pan on medium heat and add the Olive oil. As it heats up add mustard seeds and let it splutter, then add the pieces of dry red Chillies to it. Into it add the pieces of garlic , move it around a bit with a spatula to get it slightly browned and to get the raw smell out, then add the onions and the kale into the pan with the turmeric & chilly powders and the required salt .Keep the pan covered just for 2 minutes , then uncover it and mix in the cooked Channa or chickpeas. Mix it all well and let the water evaporate . As the kale becomes soft and looks ready, turn off the heat. Remember not to overcook the kale or you will lose the green color of the kale.This is a good side with your rice and also can be used as a snack.

Dry Anchovy/Unakka Netholi/Netholi karuvaadu curry

I had bought a packet of dry anchovy from the local Chinese market a few weeks' backs. I had this intense desire to try and cook the dry fish curry like the way my mom always did. Again, this the result of my yearning for her cooking I guess. Even if I make a visit back home nowadays, my mom is too weak because of her ailing and her advanced years to make all that she would like for me and my kids. So I mostly rely on my sister's -in-law for a chance at tasting some of the old luxuries I had enjoyed in my younger days, which I have since lost.

Anyways, today after a very tiring day, having spent the whole day outside, wandering around at the Dogwood Arts festival @ downtown Knoxville and mostly eating the hotdogs, the BBQ ribs and so on, and having not cooked an Indian meal in probably 24 hours, I started salivating for some rice and curry. It's then that I saw the packet of dry fish tucked in a corner. I had originally meant to make a sambhar, some rice and some kale mixed with black channa as a side. Seeing the brinjal( eggplant ), gave my husband the idea of why not a Karuvaadu (dry fish) curry? I begged him to do his mom's recipe. No way, he said. So I ended up doing this, my mom's recipe.

                                                   Mixed and ready to be cooked
Ingredients:

1: A Packet of dry medium-sized anchovies or 250 gm

2: Shredded Coconut         -      1 cup or one-half shredded

3: Dry red chilies -     8 no.s

4: Cumin seeds                   -     1 tbsp

5: Curry leaves                   -     2 sprigs

6: Turmeric powder            -     1 tsp

7: Tamarind ( Vaalan Puli,
    the long variety)              - rolled into the size of a small lemon

8: Shallots( small red onion) -     3 numbers

9: Brinjal(eggplant)               -    3 small ones, sliced into cubes or cut laterally

10: Plantain (green, raw)        -    1/2 part, cubed

11:Salt                                   -    as required

12: Oil ( favorably coconut oil)- 11/2 tbsp for garnishing with curry leaves in the end

                                            Cooked Dry Netholi/Karuvaadu Curry
Procedure:

Grind all the ingredients from 2 to 8 into a fine paste and leave aside. Remember to leave a sprig of curry leaves for later garnishing. Clean and wash the anchovies/dry Netholi, so it is free of any sand or dirt.  Preferably in an earthen pot, (I used a steel vessel to cook), mix the ground paste adding enough water and the anchovies with the brinjal/eggplant and the plantain and check for salt. Mix it all well and cook it closed on the stove top for 20-25 minutes on medium heat. Once the vegetables and fish is all cooked, turn off the heat and garnish with coconut oil and curry leaves. This goes well with rice. Hope you enjoy it, we did tonight!

                                                  Kale & Channa Thoran/Poriyal

Gothambu Puttu/Rice puttu

I love my mother's cooking like most everyone does. The sad part is that I started appreciating her cooking quite late. This I'd say was mostly because, when I was young, food, especially the regular home-cooked meal was only my second or sometimes even my third choice as I was then so much in favor of snacks and hotel food. Being in the boarding and hostel later helped me come to value how precious my mom's cooking was. I never got any of her talents but in my small way, I do what I can and want to share what I make in my kitchen on a daily basis.

This recipe is one of my favorites. I like any kind of Puttu. The various ones I have had a chance to savor in my mom's kitchen are the rice flour puttu, (Ari Puttu), wheat flour puttu (Gothambu puttu) and the tapioca flour puttu. The last being quite rare nowadays I suppose.

Gothambu Puttu/Wheat Puttu

Ingredients:

 Whole Wheat flour
or Rice flour                                         - 1-2 cups

 Fresh, ( or frozen, which is thawed),
Grated Coconut                                    -1 cup

 Salt                                                     - To taste

Warm Water                                        - As needed to mix the flour( mostly just to sprinkle on)

Preparation:

1. Put the wheat flour in a bowl and add the required amount of salt to it and mix well.

2.  Sprinkle the water a little at a time and try mixing the flour and getting it all moist. Take care not to add                          

     too much water at a time as the flour can easily lump up.  As its wheat, it has a tendency to

     lump up even with only the required amount of water.

3.  Break down the flour to a Uppuma consistency.

4. You use a Puttukutti or a cheratta cooker( two special contraptions for making Puttu, which has a hole to let the steam pass through for cooking), but if you do not have it handy, you can always use the top half of a coconut shell, which is like a cup with three eyes in them. Now, you need to know that Puttu is also known steamed rice cake /wheat cake, so the holes in the top part of the coconut shell are quite significant in letting the steam in, to cook the flour.

                                                    Cheratta Puttukumaker( coconut shell shaped puttu maker)

5. Into the Puttukutti or the coconut shell, you put a spoon-full of grated coconut first and stack some flour on top and then again add a little coconut over it and then flour on top of that. Continue this process of stacking one over the other until the cup/ puttukutti is full.

                                                 The puttumaker over the pressure cooker

6. Have a quarter of a pressure cooker filled with water steaming on the stove. As steam starts escaping from the spout, put your cup/puttukutti full of the raw flour on top of the opening and close it with a lid for the coconut shell and its own lid for the Puttukutti.

7. You will know the puttu is ready to be taken away and a  fresh one to be re-loaded, when steam
    vigorously escapes from the top of the lid. Remove the cooked puttu onto a plate and fill the puttukutti/coconut shell and repeat the process of cooking again.

The best combinations for the Puttu are:
1-Banana & Sugar
2-Kadala curry( black/white channa)
3- Pappad & Payar ( cooked green gram )
4-Any Fish/ Meat/Chicken curry

Puttu is a daily, traditional breakfast of the state of Kerala in India. It always has the ability to pull you back to the thoughts of home, with a feeling of nostalgia for what once it all was back home. Now-a-days, we use the refined flour we get from grocery stores, but its even more tastier if we can soak the rice for a few hours, grind it, sieve it and then lightly fry it and let it cool down, before making puttu. For wheat,  if you are back home, you wash the fresh whole wheat and dry it in the sun and then grind it to a flour and use it for making puttu. The degree of taste is many times higher for the extra effort, I got to say.