Sweet(Jaggery) Puttu - Steamed Rice Cake

Ingredients:

Raw Rice - 1 cup

Jaggery - 3/4 cup

Coconut - 1 tbspn

Cardamom powder - a pinch

Turmeric - a pinch
Salt - a pinch

Cashews - 1 tbspn

Raisins - 1 tbspn

Ghee - 2 tbspns

Warm water for mixing

Method:

Wash raw rice in water 2 or 3 times to remove the starch. Drain the water well with a cloth and tie the ends of the cloth so that the rice is not exposed to the air. Let it dry for 30 minutes(not more than that). 

Dry roast the rice in the kadai till the color of the rice changes to golden yellow.

Grind them in the mixie to a fine powder and sieve it. Add coconut, salt, turmeric and mix it well. Now add warm water and wet the flour, do not add too much water. To check if the right amount of water is added, just take some mixture in the hand and press it within the palm. If the mixture holds together at the same time breaks/crumble back into the powdered form, then it is in the right consistency. If it is still powdery and falls off, sprinkle more water.

Now transfer the entire mixture to a thin cloth and steam it in a cooker for 7 minutes.

Let the contents cool. Then transfer it to a shallow bowl and  mix it with the hand to make sure that no lumps are formed.

In the kadai, add jaggery with little water just enough to cover and let it dissolve completely.

Filter the syrup for any impurities. Now pour the syrup back to the pan and cook it. Keep cooking the syrup until you reach a foamy consistency. 

Now add the cardamom powder to it. Switch off the stove and add this syrup to the cooled flour mixture and mix it with the hand and make sure that no lumps are formed.

Fry the cashews and raisins in the ghee and add them to the mixture.

Tip of the day: Rinse uncooked rice in a sieve under cold running tap; this removes excess starch.