Kerala

Puttu History

: A Chinese Pirate Rice Pounding That Led To Today’s Chaya Kada Breakfast

Kerala Puttu History And The Records

Early Malayalam literature does not mention puttu, so many historians point to Tamil Nadu as its first home. Kerala and Tamil Nadu did not have separate culinary practices at the time, so some argue Keralites can claim puttu too. Another early reference is in the 16th-century Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam. 

Lord Ganesha, disguised as a boy, helps an old woman selling puttu near a temple in Madurai, and crumbled puttu is still offered to him there. A popular claim says the Portuguese introduced puttu. A 2025 feature article argues that puttu was most likely already being steamed in clay, metal or bamboo vessels by the time they reached the Malabar Coast.

The Chinese Steaming Link

The method behind puttu is old and was well developed in China. The Minneapolis Institute of Art describes the yan as a steamer used chiefly for grain, with a deep upper bowl, the zeng, with a pierced bottom set over a legged vessel holding boiling water. Britannica notes that pottery yan first appeared in the Longshan culture, and bronze versions were produced in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. 

Later, a kitchen mural in an Eastern Han tomb at Dahuting, Henan, is the earliest evidence of modern steamers. This technique matches how the equipment in a puttu recipe works, that’s how far the kerala puttu history goes. A perforated chamber holds the grain, and steam rises through it from a pot below. This, however, does not prove a direct route from China to Kerala.

The Chinese Pirate Legend And The Bamboo Tube

The story circulating online goes like this. In the 13th century, a Chinese pirate named Xi Hun Lai, wanted for raiding Pandyan ships, took refuge in Jaffna under a local lord, Dulaj Gunawardane. He knew a Malay technique of pounding rice into flour, packing it in bamboo tubes and steaming it with coconut and palm sugar. He taught it to the lord's palace cook, who layered rice flour with grated coconut instead. The Sinhalese called the result pittu, meaning ground rice.

The legend says the pirate later vanished with the cook's wife and the lord's dhow. The lord asked a Malabar pirate, Pooslaan Abdu, to track him down. Abdu was served pittu at the palace and carried the recipe back to the Malabar Coast. There it became puttu, and the Portuguese supposedly called it ‘O Putto’.

There are not much documented evidence of this and parts of the story sit awkwardly against the record. The Jaffna kingdom, from what is known, used to be a monarchy of largely Tamil-speaking people, existing from the early 14th to the early 17th century. That is remains inconsistent with a 13th-century Sinhalese lord's palace there. The Southeast Asian evidence also points the other way. Singapore's National Library says putu is probably derived from a Tamil word, and some food writers say the Southeast Asian putu cakes may have been inspired by Indian puttu. So this legend in the Kerala puttu history, is best retold as folklore. The cousins of puttu across the region share the steamed-rice idea but differ in detail:

The Evolution Of The Puttu Steamer

Kerala's puttu was not always cooked in a metal kutti. It used to be steamed in bamboo tubes with small holes pierced at the bottom, fixed over a pot of boiling water so steam entered through the holes. Both ends of the bamboo piece were cut open and tied with coir rope for grip. A second traditional vessel was a perforated coconut shell, which gave the round chiratta puttu.

The modern puttu kutti is made of stainless steel or aluminium, with a water container at the bottom and a cylindrical steaming chamber on top. Some models fit over pressure cooker lids, and an idli pan with small holes in the base works as a substitute. Ramakrishnan recalls that the puttu kutti became popular much later, and many homemakers dreamt of owning one.

Puttu Timeline: From Steaming Vessels To The Chaya Kada

Puttu Recipe Basics

A basic puttu recipe needs 1 cup rice flour, ½ cup grated coconut, salt and water. Sprinkle water on the flour gradually. The mix should not be too dry or too wet. It should hold its shape when pressed in the fist but crumble when pressed harder.

• Add about 1 tsp grated coconut to the bottom of the mould.

• Fill the mould halfway with flour, then add more coconut.

• Repeat the layers until the mould is full.

• Steam for 7–10 minutes.

Puttu Kadala Curry And Other Pairings

Puttu is traditionally served with kadala curry, made with black chickpeas. Home cooks make it as thenga kothu, varutharacha, nadan kadala curry or kadala kuruma. Other pairings include banana, payar thoran with papad, and fish or meat curry. In southern Kerala, puttu is also eaten with sweet black coffee.

Variations are many. Wheat and maize flours are used in some parts, and Muslims in Kerala eat irachi puttu, with rice layered with spiced mincemeat. Onmanorama suggests ragi and wheat puttu to raise the nutrition and notes that nutritionists rate puttu and kadala curry among Kerala's healthiest breakfasts.

How Puttu Became A Chaya Kada Staple

Puttu began as a practical meal for those who had physically demanding jobs like farmers and labourers. The nature of their job needed a portable, nutritious and quick breakfast, and Kerala's abundant rice made puttu an affordable base. The chayakkada gave it a stage. These tea shops opened before sunrise and served the day's first strong, sweet tea with pazham pori, parippu vada or steaming puttu with kadala curry. Tea shops became secular public spaces, and early communists used them in the 1920s to shape the local political conversation.