Indian Rice Vermicelli Pancakes

As usual, I had my fill of local food and had to write about it. What better way to document my life than to take a pic of yummy food when my like revolves around it? So today's picture if of putu mayam. Putu mayam, also known as string hoppers or iddiyappam, are quite tasteless like rice vermicelli, and can be eaten as an accompaniment to curries, or as a dessert. Over here, it's usually served as a dessert with grated coconut and powdered red sugar.

We were once talking about my late grandmother loving huat kuehs (chinese steamed cupcakes), getuk ubi (mashed tapioca dessert), and putu mayam (string hoppers) and we realised that she probably loved the red sugar that is found in or with these 3 desserts. During this discussion, my aunt asked if putu mayam was the Indian bee hoon that we would sometimes buy for the 7th month prayer's offerings. I guess it does look like a serving of rice vermicelli made into a flat pancake, and the ingredients are similar.