Kesari

KESARI (special version, served in weddings):

 Kesari is an Indian sweet that is easy to make. It can be served as a snack or with breakfast. It is made of rava /sooji. If you are using cream of wheat ensure it is a fine powder instead of a coarse powder. 

Ingredients: 

Sooji (Cream of Wheat - finely powdered - 1cup

Sugar- 1 cup

Ghee (clarified butter)- ½ cup

Oil -¼ cup

Water- 3 cups

Cardamom- 3 pods(crushed to a powder form)

Cashew- 10 pieces

Raisin-10 pieces

Natural food color (orange/color of choice)- 3 to 5 drops

 

Instructions: 

1. Dry roast the sooji in a fry pan for 2 minutes.  Mix half of the clarified butter and half of the oil  to the sooji and continue frying on medium heat for an additional 2 minutes. The sooji will turn a bit lighter in color. Remove the sooji from the frying pan and set aside.

2. Fry the cashews and raisins in 1 spoon of the clarified butter. Set aside.

3. Place the 3 cups of water in the pan; add 1 teaspoon of clarified butter and 1 teaspoon of oil to the water. Bring this to a boil on high heat. Once the water is boiling turn the stove down to medium heat. Add the fried sooji to the boiling water little by little. Mix thoroughly by using a whisk to avoid lumps. Add 2 teaspoons of oil and keep whisking until the sooji is fully cooked (~3-5 min.). The mixture would now be thick and have a paste-like consistency. 

4. Add sugar and keep whisking. The Kesari will become a bit watery with the addition of sugar but with continued cooking (3-4 min.) would return back to its cake batter-like consistency.

5. Add the cardamom powder, fried cashews, fried raisins, food color & the remaining clarified butter and incorporate them into the Kesari.

6. Kesari is now ready to serve 

Upma ( savory cream of wheat breakfast)

 Upma is savory cream of wheat meal that is usually eaten for breakfast but really can make a great meal or snack anytime. It is one of my favorite dishes of all time and is a comfort food as well. Though I am calling rava (tamil)/sooji ( hindi) "cream of wheat" for easy translation, what is typically used is a semolina ( coarse ground up durum wheat ( not flour) , however cream of wheat can be used if you are in a pinch.

Ingredients:

Rava (sooji/ semolina) - 1 cup

Water - 3 cups ( use the 1:3 ratio of rava to water)

Onion - 1 medium onion cut into small pieces

Ginger (remove peel) - 1 inch cut into small strips

Green chillies - 2 mostly de-seeded and cut into small pieces

Curry leaf - 4 to 5

Cilantro - a few leaves ( taken off the stem)

Black mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal ( split skinned black gram) - 1 tsp

Oil ( vegetable/canola)- 3 to 4 tbsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Optional: ( these extra ingredients can be added to make Rava Kichadi - Rava upma with vegetables and has a slight tanginess/sour taste to it)

cashews roasted slightly in oil/butter and set aside.

green peans and carrot ( small cubes) - you can buy this frozen and thaw in the microwave

tomato - large chopped into cubes

turmeric powder -1/2 tsp

Instructions:

1. In a saucepan roast the rava on medium heat for a couple of minutes until the rava is hot to the touch a slightly golden brown in color (you do not want it to be burned). Set this aside.
2. In the same saucepan add the oil and heat it up. Add the urad dal , and mustard seeds so they sputter. Once oil is heated turn down the heat to medium. Add the onion, ginger, green chillies, (tomatoes, turmeric) curry leaves and sauté it as well. Sautés onions until they are translucent and slightly golden brown. Add the cilantro at this juncture ( it wilts quickly)
   

   

   
   
   
   

3. Once this is done add the three cups of water to this mixture and salt ( taste the water being sure to cool it off to prevent burns). Increase the temperature on the stove to high heat and let the water come to a boil.

4. (Vegetables, cashews can be added at this time as well).

5.Add in the roasted rava slowly a little at a time and stir it in really well (you can use a whisk if you want) so that there are no lumps.

6.Turn down the heat to medium and let the rava cook well. This takes about 5 to 7 minutes.

7.Now upma is ready to eat and you can serve it with coconut chutney (coconut chutney). I have also eaten the upma with plain yogurt/sour cream or some sugar as a side.

8. Optional: you can add a little pat of butter to your upma to enhance the taste.