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    Home / Breakfast / Pittu

    Pittu

    Steamed cylinders of rice flour and grated coconut, fluffy and crumbly, filled with sweet coconut and served with warm coconut milk.

    ⏱ 25 minPrep time
    🔥 25 minCook time
    🍽 4Servings
    🏷 BreakfastCategory
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    Pittu - steamed rice flour and coconut cylinders

    Pittu is a breakfast of steamed rice flour and coconut, pressed into a bamboo or metal mold and cooked over steam until light and fluffy. It is a Tamil and Sinhalese morning staple, often layered with a sweet coconut filling or served plain under curry. The gentle, crumbly texture is unlike any other grain dish, and it is made fresh each morning in homes across the island. A steamer full of pittu perfumes the whole kitchen with coconut, and pittu makers learn by feel, adding water until the flour sings between their fingers.

    Chef Emily presents Pittu

    Fluffy coconut-steamed cylinders

    Each serving is soft and airy, the rice flour grains held loosely together by coconut, so it crumbles into pleasing bites. Sweet pittu, filled with jaggery coconut, is eaten with warm coconut milk and a little sugar, while savory pittu pairs with dhal or chicken curry. The mold is a small investment, though a steamer basket and a ring work in a pinch. It is a gentle, soothing breakfast that sits lightly until lunch.

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    Step by stepInstructions

    1. In a bowl, mix the rice flour, 1 cup of the coconut, and the salt. Add the warm water a little at a time, rubbing with your fingers until the mixture holds together when squeezed but still crumbles.
    2. Make the filling by mixing the remaining 1/2 cup coconut with the jaggery and cardamom.
    3. Fill a pittu mold one-third full with the flour mixture, add a layer of the sweet filling, then top with more flour mixture, without packing it down.
    4. Set the mold over a pot of boiling water and steam for 15 to 20 minutes, until steam rises freely and the pittu is cooked through.
    5. Push the cooked pittu out of the mold onto plates.
    6. Serve hot with warm coconut milk and extra jaggery, or with a curry.

    💡 Chef tips & storage

    Moisten the rice flour just enough so it holds together when squeezed but still crumbles; too much water makes heavy, dense pittu. Do not pack the mold too tightly, or the steam cannot pass through.

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    Recipe details

    Prep25 min
    Cook25 min
    Servings4
    CategoryBreakfast
    PublishedAugust 17, 2026
    Emily — the cook behind My Comfort Recipes

    Hi, I'm Emily 🧡

    Hi, I'm Emily — the cook behind My Comfort Recipes. Simple, tested comfort food for real weeknights, written down the way grandma would. Pull up a chair. More about me →

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