How to prepare Kerala Puttu?

Ingredients needed for Kerala Puttu
2 cups of puttu flour
1/2 cup of water approx
1/2 cup of grated coconut
1/2 tsp of salt

How to prepare Kerala Puttu?
Add salt to the water and mix it. It should be just a little salty, that's all.
Add the salted water little by little and mix with your fingertips. It should get crumbly and moist but not wet. When you try and shape it in your hand you should be able to but at the same time when you exert a little pressure it should crumble freely. That is the puttu consistency.

For preparing puttu, you should have a puttu kutti that is a pot which can hold water and a top part which can hold the flour mix.
 There is a new one which has come up in which the top part of the puttu maker can be fixed on to the pressure cooker in the place of the whistle.

You need to use a steaming apparatus to make puttu and the most common is the puttu maker available exclusively for the purpose.
Spoon in the puttu flour until the mould is halfway filled. Then add another layer of coconut and fill up the rest with the flour. Again add coconut and cover the top.
Keep the puttu kutti on top of the pot with the boiling water. When you see the steam coming out of the vents in the kuti, simmer and leave for 2-3 minutes. Remove and push the puttu from inside the kutti with a wooden spoon.

Puttu is meant to be crumbly even after cooking and while it will hold its shape while cooking, it will fall apart as you dig in with your fingers. This is the perfect puttu.

If you don't want to or don't have time to make a side dish for puttu, just serve with ghee, sugar, and banana.

Notes
You can also get Cheratta puttu apparatus. Both types of puttu makers are available on line.
If you don't own one puttu kutti, you can steam puttu in idli moulds also. Add about 1-2 tbsp greated coconut to the bottom of the mould.
 You can use any kind of puttu flour to make puttu - like wheat puttu, ragi puttu, corn puttu, etc. At home we use plain Eastern puttu podi on most days and it works perfectly
    If you don't want to get a regular puttu mould but want to make puttu at home very badly, try getting a chiratta puttu maker (chiratta means coconut shell). which sits on your pressure cooker while steaming and makes single-serving puttu.