i know. your brow is curled into a doubtful frown right now and i don’t blame you. but this supply of strange-looking rye millet* pittu has served as warm, hearty, savoury yet not overwhelming breakfast all week. i’ve mentioned pittu before, but not often, because i don’t get to enjoy it often. usually made of rice flour and fresh scraped coconut, pressed into metal cylinders and steamed, the ones above which my aunt made and brought over for me are made with rye millet* flour instead. and though usually served with coconut milk and lunu miris (a chili, lime, onion mixture), i improvised and used hot milk and made a paste of cayenne and lemon juice.
have i lost you? if i, myself, didn’t know what this actually tasted like, it would be hard to convince me that something made with coconut would be desirable, for breakfast of all things, or that having chili powder and lemon juice with it (and with milk??) wouldn’t be too much at 7.30am. but the crumbly, warm pillar softens in the steamy milk, and the cayenne and lemon mellow in so much so that all that remains is a mildly flavoured sauce–no feeling of heat really. short of having you over to try some, i may not convince you. short of figuring out a substitute, i may be eating my last bowl for a long while tomorrow morning. so i’ll be on the hunt for something we can both enjoy this winter that mimics this. i’ll report back if i’m successful–in the meantime, if you have any ideas, chime in. and i’m looking for other savoury, warm (and quick!) breakfast options again this year, so i’d love your suggestions for those too.
*update 11/25: my mother called me this morning to clarify and apologize. she has discovered that the pittu above was made with a type of millet flour, not with rye. i’m sure you weren’t rushing out to buy rye flour but still, sorry for the error! thanks for insisting on the update, mom. 🙂