Ravva Kesari

Ravva kesari or Sooji ka Halwa is a commonly prepared sweet in Andhra or South India. There is a Sai Baba Temple near our house and every Thursday devotees offer different kinds of food as prasadam. Today, I made this sweet as our offering to God.

Ingredients:

1. Sooji - 1.5 cups
2. Sugar - 3 cups
3. Ghee - 1/4 cup (I held back on ghee, but can add up to 1 cup)
4. Water - as required (min 4 cups)
5. Cardamom seeds (ground) - 1/2 tsp
6. Cashew nuts/Raisins - as required
7. Food color - optional

Instructions:

1. Heat 2 tsps of ghee in a pan and fry the sooji till the raw smell of ravva goes away. Keep this aside.
2. Boil the water and add the fried sooji slowly to the water stirring constantly (to avoid lumps). Cook for 10mins. Add water as required as water gets absorbed by ravva very quickly.
3. Add sugar to the above mix and cook for 5mins. Add ghee slowly to it and cook for another 5-7mins.
4. Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a pan and fry cashew/raisins till brown.
5. Add cardamom powder and cashews to the cooked kesari.
6. Serve hot or at room temperature. To make pieces, cool the kesari completely in a greased flat pan/tray and cut in required shape.
7. It can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.