Puttu is the Malayali’s one-way ticket to nostalgia. Along with the ubiquitous greenery and monsoons, puttu is up there on the wish-list of every non-resident Keralite. Left to play the part of comfort food, we often never give it a chance to be anything else. On our dining table, we merely pair it up and down. People eloquently hold forth on the joys of crumbling a pappad on puttu . Arguments on puttu ’s best mate often turn tiresome: ‘Try it with kalummakkaya (mussels),’ says one. ‘What about lamb chops?’ counters another. From brain curry to jam, strange companions are often suggested for puttu . Yet, we never gave puttu much of a second thought. It languished uncomplainingly in the dusty glass counters of wayside tea stalls. On the breakfast table, it gelled quietly with kadala and payaru or banana and sugar.
Despite puttu ’s incredible adaptability, it never held centrestage. When respectable “pure” vegetarian restaurants came up, they almost always kept the Malayali puttu out. Kozhikode often gave puttu a mention and a handful of popular restaurants even served it for breakfast. Yet, the city with a culinary legacy, never invested wholeheartedly in it.
But things are changing and the puttu is getting a makeover that is leaving us a tad bewildered and intrigued. We are pausing to go back and take another long look at the puttu . Experiments with puttu are springing up. DhePuttu , the one-and-a-half month old joint, is still riding on an actor’s popularity and puttu . Veteran home chef Ummi Abdullah is amused by the puttu ’s new found star status. But she says, “I am working on a book of 50 varieties of puttu .” In her younger days, puttu was only made with chemba rice and fresh coconut at home. Sometimes one found dry, stony varieties in tea shops. “We had puttu with chemeen varrattiyathu ,” she says. It was her husband who cajoled her to experiment with puttu many years ago. “The work is almost done and I keep asking everyone about different puttu s they know of,” she says. Puttu has taken well to her experiments. “I have made Puttu Raja with egg, fish and chicken, cake puttu with, what else, left-over cake, chemmeen puttu, semia puttu , dry fruits and dates puttu . I do the trials and people at home are tired of eating it. So I am taking a break for couple of weeks,” says Ummi.
At DhePuttu , manager Sibi Surendran says each puttu is an experiment. They have about 70 varieties. The city woke up to an unprecedented puttu mayhem in the early days of DhePuttu . There were traffic snarls near the eatery, a battalion of diners waited outside while others scrambled to get their picture with puttu on WhatsApp. “Things have settled down considerably,” says Sibi. “That kind of rush had to do with the actor’s popularity. Now we have a lot of families and the thrust is on enjoying the food,” he says. Their star puttu preparations are named after the actor’s films and the fastest mover on the menu is “ezhu sundararathrikkal,” the puttu made with seven different filling. Singaravelan with flattened rice, biryani puttu with chicken and lamb biryani flavours and chocolate puttu are all a hit, he adds.
Puttu is not a newcomer at The Gateway Hotel, says executive chef Salin Kumar. If plain puttu with kadala or payaru was breakfast fare always, Salin says things are changing. “ Puttu is getting a little more attention. We realise it can be promoted in a variety of ways,” says Salin. So every Friday for dinner, when the hotel whips up a spread of street food — Khaogali, designer puttu , finds a place. “We prepare four varieties of puttu – erachi, kadukka , vegetable and peera . Apart from rice puttu , we can also make it with wheat, ragi, oats, broken wheat, rava and corn,” says Salin. The process of puttu preparation at the live counter in itself draws new admirers, he says. “To see puttu coming out of the steamer is a pleasing sight and guests unfamiliar with puttu have given it a try after seeing it,” says Salin.
With the restaurant serving puttu from afternoon to midnight, Sibi says there are also those who are disappointed to know only puttu is on offer. “But when we cajole them, they try and often like it,” he says. Here, puttu is fast food. “We have centralised steamers that can make 24 batches of puttu in one-and-a-quarter minute. So we want it to be on the table five minutes after the order is placed,” he says.
Puttu has much going for it, say the aficionados. Unarguably healthy, it is non-greasy, easy-to-make and easy-to-like too, they say. It is difficult to go wrong with puttu, they add.
Sumesh Govind, proprietor, The Paragon Group, says that when he launched puttu in his restaurant over 20 years ago, he was advised against it. “I was told our margins would come down. But I wanted people to pair puttu with chicken and lamb stew, fish and chicken curry. We would also serve puttu with fish fry and gravy. All that paid off,” he says.
The man on the street may still be wondering if the new puttu is worth its price tag. For, it still has the unmistakable everyday air. But makeover has shown its many possibilities. It may be homely, but it can have designer aspirations.
