.: Putu lady :.

Rain or shine.

You know you can count on her for those delectable fares.

Couple of months ago was the first time I saw her. Instantaneously, I was fascinated with her warm and bubbly nature. Not much of a putu eater, I only bought it twice. On my third purchase, after a 2 weeks absence on my side, she smiled at me and said …

It’s been a long time since I last saw you. Were you ill?

Then it downed on me that I may have made her concerned on my whereabouts during my hiatus. The fact that she remembers me together with the worried expression she had on her face left an unpleasant feeling inside, thus I try to pay her courtesy calls every now and then.

On that day, I told her frankly that I hardly eat putu, hence I won’t be able to purchase it that often. She asked whether I can eat any other Indian fare. *she had to bring up a topic that I can discuss at wits end* My response, a definite yes. She threw me a smile, wherein the next subsequent days she kept some of her other Indian fares for me. *I didn’t know she was selling anything else besides putu*

Today, I bought some putu mayam after close to 1 month of not seeing her.

I'm giving you extra since you're my special customer. :)

She's seriously feeding me well, and I am more than obliged to entertain her with that. :) To this point, I never get the chance to ask her name.

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:: Addendum Apr. 5th 8.12am ::

Thank you Sister Serendipituouslife for bringing this up. :)

I've somehow rather missed out on mentioning what Putu is. Base on my knowledge, Putu itself means a kind of steamed cake/muffin or unleavened bread. Putu is made from rice flour, mixed with water or coconut milk. Depending on the variation; i.e. Putu Mayam [vermicelli-like], Putu Piring [small saucer], Putu Bambu [bamboo], the dough is steamed with or without the moulds. Screwpine leaves or juice are sometimes added in the water for steaming as an aromatic natural flavor enhancer. Normally, it is eaten with freshly grated coconut and jaggery [unrefined sugar; varying from golden brown to dark brown in color]. The jaggery are often substituted with gula melaka [coconut palm sugar], gula kabung/nau [palm sugar] or gur [date palm sugar]. With regards to the texture, Putu Mayam is lacey-like, Putu Piring has a soft almost cottony-like texture while the Putu Bambu is quite brittle.

There are other varieties of Putu i.e. Putu Tegar, Putu Ayu, Kueh Putu etc. but I'm only mentioning the common ones. In Malaysia, typically the Putu Piring and Putu Bambu have the jaggery stuffed inside the dough; often cooked/sold by Indians, Malays and Chinese. So far, I've only seen white or yellow colored versions of it, and I have never made it myself. Just the observer. :P

The picture above is the Putu Bambu, minus the sweet stuffing which is served at the sides. Hope this helps the readers to have a better understanding of what Putu is. :)

Note:: Putu Bambu can be savory or sweet. The sweet one is as described above, though if you exclude the sweet stuffing, it can be taken with curry. In Indonesia, the sweet version of the Putu Bambu is known as Kueh Putu.

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Once more, thanks to everyone for the well wishes. I'm still recovering from the nasty flu, and I really think that I should exclude the gross details. Things are becoming better, Alhamdulillah, with me not falling rock bottom.

Scuttles for her ghastly medication.

10.15pm Malaysian Time