Steamed Red Rice Pittu with Warm Coconut Milk

⏱ 45 min · Serves 4

Sri Lanka's beloved breakfast: crumbly cylinders of steamed red rice flour and fresh coconut, poured over with sweet-salty warm coconut milk. Simple, comforting and ready in under an hour.

Per serving: 520 kcal · 7.5g protein · 66.0g carbs · 25.0g fat

Ingredients

• 300g red rice flour (roasted, or dry-toast in a pan for 5 min)
• 150g freshly grated coconut (or frozen, defrosted)
• 1 tsp salt
• 180-220ml warm water
• 400ml tin coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp salt, for the milk
• 1 tsp sugar or a small piece of jaggery (optional)
• To serve: lunu miris (chilli-onion sambol) or seeni sambol, and 2 ripe bananas

Method

1. Put the rice flour and 1 tsp salt in a wide bowl. Sprinkle in the warm water a little at a time, rubbing with your fingertips, until the flour holds together when squeezed but crumbles apart easily — like damp sand. Do not knead.
2. Rub in the grated coconut lightly so it is evenly distributed, keeping the mixture loose and crumbly. Pass it through your fingers or a coarse sieve to break up any lumps.
3. Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil under a pittu bamboo (or use a steamer lined with a clean cloth, or an idli/appam steamer).
4. Loosely fill the pittu bamboo or steamer with the mixture — never press it down. Steam for 8-10 minutes, until steam rises freely through the top and the pittu smells nutty. Push out onto a plate and repeat with the rest.
5. Meanwhile warm the coconut milk in a small pan with 1/2 tsp salt and the sugar or jaggery. Heat gently until steaming but not boiling, stirring so it doesn't split.
6. Serve the hot pittu in thick rounds with a jug of the warm coconut milk to pour over, plus lunu miris and sliced banana on the side.