Spicy Red Gram Curry ~Puttu Payar~

Puttu or Pittu is a malayali staple breakfast. It's quick to prepare, and requires no elaborate planning, soaking, grinding, fermenting and so on. And it lends itself to improvisations. At my place contemporary puttu making has elevated itself to an art. My dad is the in-house puttu specialist and he has so far come up with Wholewheat Puttu, Ragi Puttu, Cornmeal Puttu, and Rava Puttu and I am quite sure that soon more grains will add up to this list.

When I was a kid, close to 40 days every year were spent in our ancestral homes in Kerala. At my dad's place, pittu (as he calls it) was rarely made, maybe because pounding the rice for flour seemed too daunting a task to my achamma (dad's mum). At my mum's place however there was always a cacophony in the kitchen with all the aunts planning and preparing for meals always a day in advance. Puttu was a common breakfast, though not with kadala (that was a rarity) but instead mixed with mashed bananas and a good dollop of ghee. Those days the rice was grown in our paddy, local paddy workers processed it, and later it was hand pounded by my aunts, then roasted, meanwhile the ghee came from the cows in our shed and the coconut and bananas from the orchard.

Its shocking that in as little as 25 years, life has become far too simple - I get packaged puttu flour from a grocer, he supplies me grated coconut, bananas or whatever I pay for. I have no clue who grows what, and I also have the option of home-delivery.

Nostalgia aside, for the classical malayali breakfast go for Puttu Kadala (black chickpeas in spicy coconut gravy), for the mundane - look no further than Puttu Pazham Pappadam (small bananas, large bananas or steamed banana), or if its a filling, high protein breakfast morning then the simple Puttu Payar (both green or red gram in a spicy curry) will leave you wanting no more (that day atleast).

Both whole green mung (cherupayar) or red gram/bean (vanpayar) taste equally delicious in this curry, here's the basics for payar curry.

Ingredients:

Red Gram - 1 cup (soaked a couple of hours)

Shallots - 6,7

Whole Red Chilly - 2

Curry leaves - 1 bunch

Mustard seeds - 2 tsp

Turmeric - 1 tsp

Oil/Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Boil the soaked beans, with the turmeric until soft.

2. Thinly chop the shallots.

3. Heat oil in a wok, drop in the chillies and as soon as it changes colour splutter the mustard.

4. Now add the chopped shallots and curry leaves. Fry until the onions caramelise lightly.

5. Now add the cooked beans, salt and a little water, bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. And finally, serve hot with steaming mounds of Puttu.

My trusty malayali blue collar breakfast Payar Curry is off to Tasty Palette to join in the sixth helping of the My Legume Love Affair event.

And for another kerala speciality with red beans (vanpayar) try Snow Peas & Pumpkin Olan.