Polenta Kesari ~ Indian Style Polenta Sweet Pudding | Gluten Free

A gluten free version of the Semolina / Rava Kesari – Polenta sweetened with sugar, perfumed with cardamom and made deliciously rich with ghee.

I have a sweet tooth. A huge one. There are countless times that I have gone into the kitchen when its almost midnight and made something quick and sweet for me to eat while I settle down with some Netflix. And, most of those times, my go-to dessert to make is a kesari. It is a relatively quick dessert to make that usually has semolina or vermicelli as the base. It is then cooked in water, sweetened with sugar, spiced with cardamom and made deliciously over the top with ghee and cashew nuts and raisins fried in more ghee.

I made this with some polenta / cornmeal as I did not have any semolina or vermicelli on hand and I am glad I made this. This is now a gluten free version for all those who love kesari or want to try it but have gluten allergies or are simply avoiding gluten.

You can just feel it, can’t you?!? All that richness of the ghee and the sweetness of the sugar and cardamom! I can and I am also so glad that I have some left over from the day I made this, that I can snack on while I type this out.

Here is wishing everyone a deliciously sweet 2016. Happy New Year! Thank you for all your support and I hope to share with you lot more yumminess through out the year.

Polenta Kesari – The Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup polenta / corn meal
• 1 ½ – 2 cups water
• 2-3 drops orange / yellow food color
• 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• ¼ cup ghee
• 1 tbsp golden raisins
• 1 tbsp chopped cashew nuts
• 1 tbsp chopped pecans

Method:

Bring 1 ½ cups water to boil and the polenta to it in ¼ cup increments. After each ¼ cup mix well, so that no lumps are formed. Let it cook over medium heat till it absorbs all the water. Check for doneness. It does not need to be mushy and should have a grainy feel to it. If you would personally prefer it to cook more, add the remaining ½ cup water and let it cook till all the water is absorbed. add the food color at this time and mix well.

Now add the sugar and let the sugar melt. This will release some liquid, so keep stirring till most of that gets absorbed into the polenta. Sprinkle the cardamom and stir well.

Heat the ghee in a separate pan and add the cashew nuts and the pecans to it. Once they turn golden brown add the raisins as well and allow them to swell up.

Pour all of it over the polenta and mix it in. Serve warm.