Kesari

Kesari is probably the easiest and quickest Indian sweet/dessert to prepare. With just a handful of ingredients, most of which are household staples, this is the go to sweet in most South Indian houses when we have unannounced visitors and need to come up with something quick to serve.

Traditionally, in Brahmin households that follow the arranged marriage system, this is the sweet that is served by the girl when the boy first visits the girl's home. Today we will see how to prepare my version of kesari

Preparation time : 5   mins

Cooking time      : 20 mins

Serves               : 4-5

Ingredients

Semolina                        1/2 Cup
Sugar                             1 Cup +2 TBSP
Cashews whole               6-8 nos split into two                      
Cardamom pods              2 Skin removed and crushed
Ghee                              2 TBSP divided
Saffron food colour          1 1/2 Pinches
Water                              2 Cups


Method

Heat a kadai ( either non-stick or regular ) and add one TBSP of Ghee
Once the Ghee melts, add the cashews and fry until cashews turn golden brown

Remove cashews from the kadai, leaving the ghee in the kadai
Add semolina to the same kadai in medium heat and fry for 30-40 sec till nice aroma comes, taking care not to brown it

Add water to semolina and bring to a boil
Keep stirring constantly so that no lumps form till most of the water is absorbed by semolina

Add the sugar and stir

Once the sugar is added, the sugar will melt and kesari will become watery again. This is normal
Keep stirring continuously to avoid lumps and add in the kesari food colour

Once most of the sugar is absorbed and the kesari starts leaving the sides off the kadai, switch off the flame and add the crushed cardamom and stir

Add the remaining one TBSP ghee, pour it in a serving dish, add the roasted cashews and serve

Note

Because cardamom is a delicate spice, adding it after switching off the flame will help retain its aroma longer
Adding half of the ghee at the end, will ensure that not much ghee is absorbed by the dish, reducing its usage and also keep the kesari from drying out
If you like adding raisins to the dish, you can fry them after frying the cashews and once they become plump, remove them from the kadai and keep aside. Add them back along with the cashews in the pre final stage
As it cools down, kesari will solidify a bit more, so switch off the flame when the kesari is of the consistancy where it slides off the spoon easily, to prevent it from going rock solid later

Hello Everyone

Welcome to my blog. I have started this blog to maintain an online journal of all the recipes I have collected so far and share them with people taking their first steps in cooking. Being a self taught cook and a working mother for most part of my life, the recipes I use are usually simple and easy to make with easily available ingredients but without any compromise on the flavour and taste. Most of the recipes I will be posting are those that I collected from my mother, mother-in-law and various friends and relatives who are all amazing cooks.

I hope through this blog I meet and interact with many food enthusiasts and not just share my knowledge on food, but also learn more and gain a wider understanding of various food across the world.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

U. Muthusamy

P.S Being an Indian Vegetarian, all the recipes I post here would also be Vegetarian.
      Also being a teacher, I will try to incorporate certain techniques I learned so far that will help you learn things quickly.