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Thinai Puttu (Sweet Steamed Foxtail Millet)
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Thinai Puttu (Sweet Steamed Foxtail Millet)

Foxtail milletTraditionalTamil NaduBreakfastFlour (atta)VegetarianContains dairyContains nuts

Prep 10 min · Cook 15 min · Servings not given in the source

Make

Ingredients

  • foxtail millet flour — 100 g
  • jaggery — 100 g (pounded)
  • grated coconut — 100 g
  • cashew nuts — 5 g
  • cardamom seeds — 5 g
  • water (sprinkled in a little at a time; the source gives the texture, not an amount)
  • ghee (for frying the cashews; named in the method, not in the list)

Method

  1. Tip the foxtail millet flour into a wide bowl. Sprinkle a few drops of water over it and rub it through with your fingertips; keep going a little at a time.
  2. Stop when a fistful stays together after you squeeze it but falls apart again when you pinch it. That damp, crumbly texture is what puttu needs.
  3. Steam the dampened flour in a puttu maker, or in a cloth-lined steamer, until it is cooked through and smells toasty.
  4. Meanwhile fry the cashews in a little ghee until golden.
  5. Turn the hot puttu into a bowl and toss it with the grated coconut, the pounded jaggery, the crushed cardamom and the fried cashews. Serve warm.

Tips

  • General practice: break up any lumps in the dampened flour (a coarse sieve helps) before steaming, so it cooks evenly.

Fresh atta: grind small, use soon

  • Millets keep for months as whole grain; flour is best ground as it is needed, because it turns rancid. (FAO, Sorghum and millets in human nutrition (1995))
  • Bajra changes fastest: its grain stores for months, but its milled flour has a very short shelf life. (ICAR-IIMR scientists, Food Chemistry Advances (2023) (DOI 10.1016/j.focha.2023.100190))
  • In an Indian study, untreated bajra flour stayed within the quality limit only about 2 days at room temperature. (ICAR-IARI, Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences (2016))
  • Ragi flour keeps better than foxtail, barnyard or bajra flour (it carries less fat). (Planta (2024), review)
  • Keep atta closed and cool: bajra flour kept best in polythene and worst in gunny sacks; grains should be dry and in airtight containers. (Chaudhary & Kapoor, J Sci Food Agric (1984); ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines (2024) (DOI 10.1002/jsfa.2740351113))
  • Going off shows first as smell and taste — sour, musty or dusty, then bitter. (Lai & Varriano-Marston, Cereal Chemistry (1980))

So: buy the grain, grind a week’s worth at a time — less for bajra in summer.

Adapted from ICDS Tamil Nadu, recipe booklet, PDF p. 42 (printed p. 40), written in our own words.