The Veggie Blog

Picture from www.madrasi.info

According to the South Asian Women’s Forum:

Kesari halwa and Kesari sweet rice are the favorites in North India. A dash of saffron is added to the sweetmeats to get a yellow tinge. Many people go to temple to offer halwa or sweet rice to the Gods.

I have tried several different ways to make Kesari over the last couple of years, some have failed miserably and some have been awesome eye-openers. I am going to share my best recipe adapted from my mom’s recipe.

Ingredients :

1 cup rava (semolina)

3-4 tbsps ghee (indian butter)

2.5 cups of sugar

1 tsp saffron powder

1 tsp Cardamom powder

5-7 Cashewnuts

5-7 Raisins

2.5 Cups of water

Preparation :

Heat a pan. Add 2 tbsps of ghee and add the rava. Roast the rava till it turns llight brown.Boil water in a separate vessel and add it to the rava till it gets fully cooked. Add 2 more tsps of ghee and sugar and stir it continously till it becomes thick. Add saffron powder, cardamom powder,raisins. Fry cashewnuts in a little ghee and add it to kesari. Serve hot.

Picture credit and copyright of www.hinduonnet.com

From my early childhood, I always remember how festive occasions in India were always marked by sweets and delicacies. My favorite among them, outright, was the king of south Indian sweets - The Pal Payasam. Pal in Tamil means “milk” and Payasam in Tamil means Pudding. So there you go, all it really stands for is “Milk Pudding”. But trust me, it is MUCH more than that, a lifestyle thing for south Indians, a 3000 year tradition that lives in every south Indian family to this date. So here’s how I do it:

Ingredients:

1 litre Milk

5 tsp Uncooked Rice

6-8 tsp Sugar

4-5 Almonds

5 Green Cardamoms (Wikipedia - Green Cardamoms)

6-8 tnds Saffron

4-5 almonds

Preparation:

Heat milk in a cooker .Wash the uncooked rice and add it to the milk.After 5 minutes reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.Then add sugar and stir it continously till it reduces to one third of the original quantity partially crushing the rice.Add saffron ,chopped almonds and cardamom powder.Serve hot or cold.