Kesari

 Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

Basic Kesari Recipe:

Ingredients:

Ravai / Sooji, Fine - 1 cup

Sugar - 1.75 - 2 cups, as desired

Water - 3-4 cups

Ghee - ~1 cup

Cardamom - 1 tsp

Saffron - few strands

Cashews, Raisins, Almonds - chopped, optional

Fruits - Banana / Mango / Strawberry / Blueberry / Pineapple - cubed 1 cup - optional

Recipe:

In a thick bottomed pan, add some ghee, dry roast the ravai with cashews, almonds in medium heat until it turns brown and a nice aroma comes. On the side, bring the water, saffron threads and sugar to a boil (see variations). By the time the ravai is roasted, the water and sugar mixture to come to a rolling boil. Turn off the stove and add the water sugar mixture to the roasted ravai slowly and keep stirring. It will sizzle so do it slowly. Once all the water is added, turn the stove back on at medium heat and keep stirring until the mixture comes together. Add cardamom powder towards the end. Add ghee in frequent intervals or at the end. 

Variations:

For fruit flavored kesari, when the ravai is more than half way roasted, add the chopped fruits and roast them all together well. Mash the fruits as part of the roasting process to bring it all together nicely and then add water.

Sweetness - For large quantities, 1:2 ratio of ravai to sugar is recommended. For smaller quantities or just for the household, 1.75 is alright

Water - For large quantities where prasadam will be prepared several hours in advance, 1:4 water is recommended. It will hold up the heat and the amount of kesari that this makes will be large. 

Three ways to add sugar and water

1. You can boil just water in a pan on the side. Once the ravai is roasted, you can add the water first to cook the ravai, then add the sugar once the ravai is cooked and stir together

2. You can boil just water in a pan on the side. Once the ravai is roasted, you can add sugar first, let it melt, stir for a bit and then add water and cook them all together

3. You can boil both water and sugar in a pan on the side. Once the ravai is roasted, add the mixture together and let it cook (this is the method I've posted above)

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