Kesari or Sojji, as we call it back home, was an indispensable part of any festival menu, from the grand ones like Janmashtami to the monthly Pournami-Amaavasai poojas. I think, once, we even planned to make various versions of Kesari through the nine days of Navarathri (Thankfully, it remained a plan). But even years and years of tasting the same orange, slightly gooey dessert, each time brimming with enough ghee to solve Chennai's energy crisis, will never make me say "No, Thank you" to the next person who offers it to me. There is some unknown magic that binds me to it and I am not very keen to discover that either.
Named so because of it's bright orange hue, similar to that of saffron (kesar), the Kesari has come far from its humble beginnings. Today, it is not rare to see a yellow-colored pineapple Kesari with juicy chunks of pineapple embedded in it, Semiya Kesari made with vermicelli, or a vibrantly pink strawberry Kesari. Once, I even had the fortune of sampling Kesari made with mango pulp, and for a whole hour, I was 5 feet off the ground! And so, as a humble offering to the divine-science of Kesari-ology, I devised up yet another simple-to-make version of this globe-trotting sweet - Tutti-Frutti Kesari. Of course there are dedications to make on this successful achievement : To Tootie, Frootie, and Shori, for reasons unknown!
Now, the recipe is so very simple that you can prepare it in a jiffy, even in the middle of the worst possible three-day long night-out, that one may undertake to submit the next draft to that prestigious journal. And don't forget to save some for your adviser when you meet him for corrections in the morning. It may end up being your only saving grace!
TUTTI-FRUTTI KESARI (Serves 6)
Set-up Time : -
Set-up Time : -
Experiment Run-Time : 10 Minutes
The Shopping List
Coarse Rava (Semolina) : 1 cup
Sugar : 1 cup
Tutti-Frutti : 1/2 cup
Nuts : A handful
(Mixture of Walnuts, Cashews, Pistachios and Almond)
(Mixture of Walnuts, Cashews, Pistachios and Almond)
Ghee : 2-3 Tbsp (Gasp!)
Cardamom Powder : 1 tsp
(4 cardamoms blended with a little sugar in a blender)
(4 cardamoms blended with a little sugar in a blender)
Water : 3 cups
Methodology
1. Place the water in a deep pan, with a handle, and heat it on a low-medium flame in the back-burner. Forget about it for now. It will be ready when it is needed.
2. Take another frying pan and drop in a tablespoon of ghee. Once it has melted and heated up, tip in the Rava and roast it on a medium flame until the raw-smell is replaced with a rich ghee-laden aroma. The Rava should have browned ever so lightly by now. Quickly remove the Rava onto a plate and allow it to cool. A delay of even a few seconds may burn the Rava, so keep the plate ready-at-hand.
3. In the same frying pan, add the rest of the ghee (the more the better), and when it heats up, fry the nuts in it until they are golden brown.
4. Once again, empty the Rava into the frying pan and mix it well with the ghee and the nuts. Gradually blend in the sugar and keep stirring until the mixture starts sticking to the sides.
5. If your timing is perfect, and it is really important that it is indeed so, the water that we safely left on the back-burner would be boiling away. Take the pan by its handle (Ah, now you get it!) and carefully pour the hot water into the Rava. Keep stirring, else you may end up with nasty lumps of uncooked Rava.
6. The Rava will expand on cooking, and the mixture will begin to thicken. Continue pouring the water until the Rava is completely cooked*. (The water measurement given is usually sufficient for the other given ingredients, but sometimes, if the Rava is too fine, lesser water maybe sufficient).
7. When the mixture is still in a semi-solid state**, stir in the cardamom powder, the Tutti-Frutti and an additional tablespoon of ghee if desired. Continue heating until all the water has been absorbed and the Kesari takes on a shine from all the ghee that has been generously added. Ambrosia is served!
* One way to check if the Rava is cooked or not is to look for white specks in the Kesari. When a Rava is not cooked through, it's inside is more opaque than the cooked outer shell. The presence of white specks indicates that the Rava is still partially cooked and is a cue for you to keep adding water.
** A word of warning here. When the Kesari is in its thick viscous state, it tends to boil and splatter around. Take utmost care when reaching out to stir the mixture lest you may end up with a scalding hot splat on your hand!
Kesari tastes best when it is served hot, right off the stove, but given the poojas and offering protocol, you rarely get to eat it this way on the festival days. Nevertheless, it tastes really good when cold too, and disappears equally fast. This Tutt-Frutti Kesari went along amazingly well with vanilla icecream and I just couldn't stop at one cup. So, ready to make your own desert for dinner tomorrow?
2. Take another frying pan and drop in a tablespoon of ghee. Once it has melted and heated up, tip in the Rava and roast it on a medium flame until the raw-smell is replaced with a rich ghee-laden aroma. The Rava should have browned ever so lightly by now. Quickly remove the Rava onto a plate and allow it to cool. A delay of even a few seconds may burn the Rava, so keep the plate ready-at-hand.
3. In the same frying pan, add the rest of the ghee (the more the better), and when it heats up, fry the nuts in it until they are golden brown.
4. Once again, empty the Rava into the frying pan and mix it well with the ghee and the nuts. Gradually blend in the sugar and keep stirring until the mixture starts sticking to the sides.
5. If your timing is perfect, and it is really important that it is indeed so, the water that we safely left on the back-burner would be boiling away. Take the pan by its handle (Ah, now you get it!) and carefully pour the hot water into the Rava. Keep stirring, else you may end up with nasty lumps of uncooked Rava.
6. The Rava will expand on cooking, and the mixture will begin to thicken. Continue pouring the water until the Rava is completely cooked*. (The water measurement given is usually sufficient for the other given ingredients, but sometimes, if the Rava is too fine, lesser water maybe sufficient).
7. When the mixture is still in a semi-solid state**, stir in the cardamom powder, the Tutti-Frutti and an additional tablespoon of ghee if desired. Continue heating until all the water has been absorbed and the Kesari takes on a shine from all the ghee that has been generously added. Ambrosia is served!
* One way to check if the Rava is cooked or not is to look for white specks in the Kesari. When a Rava is not cooked through, it's inside is more opaque than the cooked outer shell. The presence of white specks indicates that the Rava is still partially cooked and is a cue for you to keep adding water.
** A word of warning here. When the Kesari is in its thick viscous state, it tends to boil and splatter around. Take utmost care when reaching out to stir the mixture lest you may end up with a scalding hot splat on your hand!
Kesari tastes best when it is served hot, right off the stove, but given the poojas and offering protocol, you rarely get to eat it this way on the festival days. Nevertheless, it tastes really good when cold too, and disappears equally fast. This Tutt-Frutti Kesari went along amazingly well with vanilla icecream and I just couldn't stop at one cup. So, ready to make your own desert for dinner tomorrow?
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