Rawa Kesari/Orange colored Suji Halwa

Rawa Kesari or rava kesari, is a popular and most easiest dessert of Indian Cuisine, originated in the South Indian state of Tamilnadu and Karnataka. It is made of Rawa or ground semolina/cream of wheat, which is popularly known as Suji to rest of the country. Kesari/kesar means Saffron, as the usage of saffron in this recipe makes it very delicious and also gives it a light yellow to orange color. Alternatively, yellow or orange food color can be used too, to give it a colorful look. In other parts of India, this dish is known as suji halwa, but without the use of saffron or any color. This dish is extremely easy to prepare and is a perfect blend of semolina, ghee and sugar. So, it is very nutritious, can be given to an infant, who has just started to have solid, as it melts in mouth if prepared properly.
I had no idea about this dessert, before coming to Singapore as this country has a great influence of South Indian Cuisine. After eating it outside, I just loved it and thought to prepare it at home. I saw it in many food blogs, but after I saw the mouth watering clicks in Rak's Kitchen, I bookmarked it and prepared it immediately. Even though it's very easy to prepare, but measurements is a key factor of this recipe. I didn't follow it step-by-step from her, made some changes in steps to make it more easy for me, but it worked well, trust me.

Ingredients :

Rawa/rava/ Suji/semolina : 11/2 cup
Sugar : 21/2 - 3 cups( depending on your sweet tooth)
Water : 3 1/2 cup
Ghee/clarified Butter : 2-3 tblsp.
Orange/yellow food color(I used orange) : 1 tsp.
Cardamom powder : 2 tsp.(take out the black seeds and ground coarsely)
Raisins : 10-12
Cashewnuts : 10-12 (chopped in medium chunks)
Sliced almonds : a handful (for garnishing)

Method :

Heat ghee/butter in a wide pan, add cashewnuts and rainsins. Fry in low flame until cashewnuts are lightly browned and rainsins balloon up. Take out and keep aside.
In the same ghee, add rawa/semolina. In medium flame, roast the semolina for 3-4 minutes, it shouldn't change its color but it'll get slightly roasted flavour.
At the same time, boil water in a pot. Add sugar when water start to boil. Wait until all sugar melts. Add food color now and stir to dissolve it well. Take out from the flame.
Add this sugar syrup slowly in the roasted semolina and stir vigorously. This is a crucial step, as there are chances that lumps can form if not stirred well. Add water until you use the whole sugar syrup. Mix well. If you see that all semolina is not mixed well, add little more water.
In medium low flame, let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Add cashewnuts and rainsins. But don't forget to stir. If you see few lumps, don't panic, with a back of a ladle, just press and mash it well. Check the sweet level, if you're not satisfied, you can add little more sugar now and mix well with it.
When semolina is well cooked and water are absorbed well, add 1 tbsp. ghee in it and stir to mix well. Remove from heat when semolina mix doesnot stick to the pan any more.
Sprinkle cardamom powder over it.
For garnish, you can use any nuts, like almonds or pistachio or ransins. I used sliced almonds for garnishing.

Serving Suggestions : you can serve in a bowl or grease a plate, spread the kesari, after it cools down, cut into diamond shape and serve as a burfi.(see in Rak's page)

Chill in refrigerator before serving.

Sending this to Priya's Bookmarked recipes-Every Tuesday event and Priti's Festive food-Raksha Bandhan event