Rava Kesari Recipe - How to make Rava Kesari - Easy Indian Sweets

Rava Kesari is one of my favorites. I really don't know why I kept delaying to post such an easy and basic sweet.  Today is a special day, VijosKitchenCorner is 2 years old and its our 7th wedding anniversary too. Every year we used to plan something for our anniversary. This year we were not in any celebration mood with all the floods and the scars it has left in most of the families here. VJ and his friends are volunteering to rebuild an orphanage home nearby which has been completely washed out with the floods. We hardly had any time on hand for us. So today morning I thought I can atleast prepare this quick kesari. Here is the simple and easy recipe.

Ingredients

Rava - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 cup or a little lesser than that
Water - 1 & 1/2 cups
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 3-4 crushed
Cashew nuts - 10-15, broken into quarters
Raisins - 10
Kesari colour - a pinch

Method

Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add a teaspoon of ghee and roast the cashew nuts until they turn golden brown. When they start turning golden brown add the raisins and fry until it puffs up. Transfer them to a separate bowl.

In the same pan add the rava and fry until a nice aroma comes out of it. Transfer the rava to a plate. Then add the water, kesari colour and the crushed cardamom to the pan and bring it to a boil. When the water starts boiling add the roasted rava, simmer and cook.

After all the water evaporates, add sugar, roasted cashews and raisins, mix well and cook on low flame until the kesari starts to leave the sides of the pan. Serve hot or warm.

Badam Halwa - Almond Halwa - Diwali Sweets - How To Make Badam Halwa

The festival of lights, Diwali is round the corner. And I have been getting requests from my friends for some new sweets. When one of my friend asked for a sweet made out of badam I remembered Chef Venkatesh Bhat making halwa out of almonds in a show. I had roughly noted then. So for an exact recipe I had to do a little bit of googling and finally adapted with this version. I had made few alterations to the sugar and ghee proportions, still the halwa was super delicious and soft.

Badam halwa is a rich and delicious Indian sweet made with pureed almonds, milk, ghee, sugar and
saffron. Stirring continuously at the right heat is the key for this recipe. Over heat can very easily
burn the halwa. Just make sure you follow the exact steps, the yummy halwa will melt in your mouth

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

Badam - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Water - 1/4 cup (for dissolving sugar)
Yellow food colour/kesari color - a pinch
Saffron - few strands


Method

Soak almonds overnight and peel the skin. Alternatively you can boil them in hot water for a few minutes and peel the skin.




Grind almonds with 1/4 cup of milk to a smooth paste.




Take a heavy bottomed pan, (I used a non-stick pan, so that it doesn't stick to the bottom) bring 1/4 cup of water to boil, switch off the flame, add sugar and stir, so that the sugar dissolves completely.



Now add the badam paste, remaining milk, kesari color, sugar, saffron and cook on medium flame stirring continuously.



Add ghee little by little, mixing evenly. Add all the ghee except 2 tsp and cook stirring continuously on low flame.

 

It will start bubbling and spluttering. Cautiously keep stirring.



At one point, the ghee will be completely absorbed and the halwa will start leaving the sides of the pan. This took around 15 minutes for me.

Now switch off the flame, add the remaining 2 tsp of ghee and stir for about 3-4 minutes. I learnt that this is important to keep the halwa softer when it sets. The halwa will thicken even more when it cools down.

How To Cook Corn In Pressure Cooker

What else can be a better snack on a rainy or misty evening. A boiled corn, few shakes of salt with a mild layer of butter and its all ready to munch on!

 Ingredients

Corn, salt and a little butter is what all you need.

Method

Take a pressure cooker, drop in the corn (break them into halves so that it fits well), add water, the corn should be all immersed. If you like salted corn, add some salt. Cover the cooker with its lid. Turn on the flame to high. After the first whistle, simmer for 3-5 minutes and then switch off the flame. Wait until the pressure subsides, then open and strain the water. Spread a smear layer of butte and ta..da.. boiled salted corn ready for munch'in!!