Rice Flour (Arisi Maavu), For Idiyappam, Puttu & Kozhukattai

Rice flour is the flour every South Indian kitchen falls back on. Idiyappam on a weekday morning, puttu on Sunday, kozhukattai during Vinayagar Chaturthi, murukku for Diwali, and a spoon in the dosa batter for a crisp edge. Ours is milled from pacharisi in small batches and packed fresh, with no bleaching, no fillers and no anti-caking agents. Like everything in our range of Pure Organic foods, it has nothing added. If you also grind your own batter at home, idly rice is the companion buy.

What you can make with it

• Idiyappam, soft and non sticky, when kneaded with boiling water
• Puttu, layered with grated coconut and steamed
• Kozhukattai and modak outer shells
• Murukku and thattai, mixed with urad flour
• Dosa, adai and paniyaram batter, or stirred into our millet dosa mix for a lighter, crisper finish
• Kolam, since it is plain unbleached rice flour with nothing added

Raw, not roasted

This is raw pacharisi maavu. For idiyappam and puttu, dry roast it on a low flame for three to four minutes until it feels light and loses the raw smell, then use hot water. Roasting at home beats flour that has sat roasted on a shelf for months, the same reason we sell unpolished grains rather than pre-processed ones.

Storing it

Rice flour is gentle on digestion and naturally gluten free, which makes it easy to pair with heavier grains through the week. Keep it airtight and away from heat, and it will hold its aroma well past the millet flours. For ideas on what to rotate alongside it, read this guide to the types of millets grown across India.

Sold in fresh 500 g packs. For rice flour 1kg, two packs beat one large bag left open. Browse our whole grains to stock the rest of the shelf.