Ragi puttu with banana

Method

1. Mix 140 g ragi flour and 140 g puttu podi in a mixing bowl. Stir 1 tsp salt into 220 ml (about 1 cup) water and sprinkle it over a little at a time, rubbing with your fingertips for 2–3 minutes. Stop when it looks like damp breadcrumbs: a squeezed handful holds its shape but crumbles when poked.
2. Fill the puttu base halfway with water and bring it to the boil on high heat, 3–5 minutes, until steam comes out of the nozzle.
3. Drop the perforated disc into the tube. Add a spoon of 80 g grated coconut, then loose flour to a third of the way up, more coconut, more flour, and finish with coconut. Do not press it down.
4. Fit the tube on the base and steam on medium-high heat for 8–10 minutes, until steam pours steadily out of the top for 2 minutes. Ragi needs the full time to cook through.
5. Push the puttu out onto a plate. Mash 4 banana with a fork and grate 1½ tbsp jaggery over the top. Mix them into the puttu with your fingers as you eat.

Tips

• For babies under 12 months, skip the jaggery; the banana is sweet enough.

Keeping and freezing

• Fridge: keeps 1 day in a lidded box. Cool it within an hour of cooking.
• Freezer: does not freeze well; eat within the fridge time.

Good to know

• Asthma: buy frozen grated coconut without sulphites (220–228).