The absolute BEST Rava Kesari Recipe! It is perfectly rich with a soft, fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth (no chew) texture. This classic south Indian dessert is made with staple ingredients and requires only 20 minutes.
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What is Rava Kesari?
This is the popular south Indian sweet dish made with semolina, ghee, sugar and saffron. If you literally translate, rava means ‘semolina or suji’ and kesari means ‘orangey saffron color’.
Because it is a sweet dish, it is eaten as a dessert after a meal or along with a meal. It is also offered as a naivedyam (prasad) to the God during pooja or festivals (like Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Krisha Ashtami) and then distributed amongst the devotees.
In Karnataka, it is known as ‘kesari bath’ and served as a breakfast along with savory dish (aka chow chow bath - contains this kesari bath and khara bath, similar to upma).
🧾Ingredients
Here is the pic of the ingredients used in making rava kesari. Total 6 ingredients + water. 4 of them (semolina, sugar, ghee, saffron) being main and 2 (cashews, raisins) are as per your choice.
Many do add orange color to make it kesari (orangey color), But I tried to avoid synthetic colors whenever possible. If you want you can add a few drops.
Ingredient Notes:
Semolina (rava or suji): This is the main ingredient here. Fine semolina is preferable for making rava kesari because it gives soft, fluffy texture. And because it is fine variety it will get cooked faster. There is also coarse verity is available in the market and it is good for upma, rava uttapam etc.
Ghee: It adds richness and smooth texture. Do not reduce its amount for the sake of making it low-calorie. Otherwise, you’ll have to compromise on the texture.
Saffron: It adds beautiful, bright flavors along with yellowish color to the dish. Use the best quality saffron here.
🍳Step By Step Photo Instructions
1) Heat the ghee in a pan on medium-low heat. Once hot add cashews and fry till golden brown, drain excess ghee and remove it to a plate.
2) Now dry raisins until they puff up, similarly remove in the same plate.
3) Keep this .aside and add at the end.
4) In the remaining ghee, add semolina.
5) Dry roast it with stirring constantly till it becomes light brown in color. Also, you will get a nice toasted sooji aroma. It will take around 7-8 minutes and you need to stir constantly for even browning and roasting.
6) Once done, remove it to a plate and keep it aside.
7) The same pan, add water and saffron. Bring it to a rolling boil.
8) As soon as it starts boiling, add roasted semolina and immediately start mixing to avoid lumps.
9) Within some time, semolina absorbs all the water and it becomes like a thick paste.
10) Keep stirring and cooking till it becomes really thick and fat starts to ooze out from the sides.
11) Now add sugar and mix.
12) As sugar melts, it becomes runny again.
13) Add fried cashews and raisins.
14) Keep stirring and cooking until it becomes thick and leaves the sides of the pan, also ghee starts to ooze out and kesari becomes shiny. This is the time turn off the stove. It tastes best when served warm.
💭Expert Tips
- Roasting semolina properly is the key to get the best texture. So take your time, be patient and roast with stirring constantly till you get a nice aroma and slight color change.
- Keep the gas heat MEDIUM-LOW.
- Do not burn or over roast. We are not looking for brown color. Just slight color change.
- After adding rava to boiling water, you need to stir immediately to prevent lumps.
Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week.
FAQs
On stove top: take the required amount in a heavy bottom pan and add a spoonful of ghee and reheat with stirring constantly till it comes warm.
In Microwave: Reheat rava kesari in the microwave for 30-60 seconds till it becomes warm. Do not overheat for a longer time otherwise, it becomes dry.
Substitute the water with the same amount of milk and it gives a super rich creamy texture. Or use half water and half milk which gives the perfect balance of richness and creaminess.
Check Out Other Semolina Desserts
- Sheera - very similar to kesari bath but the procedure and ingredient ratio is slightly different. Hence both have different taste and texture.
- Pineapple halwa
- Banana sheera
- Rava laddu
- Rava besan ladoo
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📋 Recipe Card
Rava Kesari (Kesari Bath)
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons Ghee (Clarified butter)
- 2 tablespoons Cashew nuts
- 2 tablespoons Raisins
- ¾ cup Sooji (rava or semolina)
- 2 ¼ cup Water
- ½ teaspoon Saffron
- ¾ cup Sugar
Instructions
- Heat the ghee in a pan on medium-low heat. Once hot add cashews and fry till golden brown, drain excess ghee and remove it to a plate.
- Now dry raisins until they puff up, similarly remove in the same plate. Keep this aside.
- In the remaining ghee, add semolina. Dry roast it with stirring constantly till it becomes light brown in color. Also, you will get a nice toasted sooji aroma. It will take around 7-8 minutes and you need to stir constantly for even browning and roasting. Once done, remove it to a plate and keep it aside.
- The same pan, add water and saffron. Bring it to a rolling boil.
- As soon as it starts boiling, add roasted semolina and immediately start mixing to avoid lumps.
- Within some time, semolina absorbs all the water and it becomes like a thick paste. Keep stirring and cooking till it becomes really thick and fat starts to ooze out from the sides.
- Now add sugar and mix. As sugar melts, it becomes runny again.
- Add fried cashews and raisins. Keep stirring and cooking until it becomes thick and leaves the sides of the pan, also ghee starts to ooze out and kesari becomes shiny. This is the time turn off the stove.
- It tastes best when served warm.
Notes
- Roasting semolina properly is the key to get the best texture. So take your time, be patient and roast with stirring constantly till you get a nice aroma and slight color change.
- Keep the gas heat MEDIUM-LOW.
- Do not burn or over roast. We are not looking for brown color. Just slight color change.
- After adding rava to boiling water, you need to stir immediately to prevent lumps.
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