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Rava kesari in a silver bowl with a silver spoon scooping some of it up
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Rava Kesari

Easy step-by-step recipe to make the popular Southern Indian dessert, Rava Kesari. It is made with a few simple ingredients like semolina, sugar, ghee and cardamom.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Indian - South Indian
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Calories 248kcal
Author Manju

Ingredients

  • 1 cup rava / semolina use fine rava / sooji
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup ghee
  • ¼ cup oil
  • ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 or 2 drops orange food color
  • 1 tablespoon ghee
  • 2 tablespoon cashews
  • 2 tablespoon raisins

Instructions

  • Heat ghee in a wide heavy bottomed pan. Roast the cashews and raisins and remove them from the pan to a plate/bowl.
    1 tablespoon ghee, 2 tablespoon cashews, 2 tablespoon raisins
  • In the remaining ghee, add the rava/semolina and over medium heat, roast it to be golden brown in color.
    1 cup rava / semolina
  • Lower the heat and add the water to this. Cook till all the water gets absorbed by the rava.
    3 cups water
  • Add the food color at this point and mix it in well.
    1 or 2 drops orange food color
  • As the rava absorbs the water and starts to thicken, add the sugar to this and mix well. Add the ground cardamom to this and keep mixing.
    1 ½ cups granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • Add the ghee and oil combo to the pan at this time. A Keep mixing the ghee into the kesari and it will absorb it all in just a few minutes.
    ¼ cup ghee, ¼ cup oil
  • Once done, add the roasted cashews and raisins back to this and mix it in. Serve warm.

Notes

  • My number one tip to make this the perfect kesari is to stick to the ratio of rava:water:sugar:ghee. It is really simple once you follow this.
  • Use fine rava to get that smooth consistency of the kesari. Bombay rava or fine sooji is what you need to look for.
  • Ghee + Oil combo is the secret to making a hotel style or catering style kesari. The oil helps in keeping the consistency smooth and melt in your mouth soft, which is key to a great rava kesari.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 248kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 4mg | Potassium: 59mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg