Rava Kesari/Saanja (Semolina Sweet Pudding)

I cant believe its been almost 9 months since I blogged.....When I started out I was pretty sure I would keep blogging no matter what, but as always, its easier said than done. Well, in my defense I did have a real busy few months with lotsa good things and a bit of recession induced not-so-good stuff. Anyway, things are promising to look better or so I would like to think :-) - enough personal stories I guess. Moving on to the recipe for my blog, I thought I should come back from my hiatus with a sweet treat. Here is a simple Indian dessert that I made for Varalakshmi viradham. This is one of the least time-consuming and easiest desserts that I know of and has always been my "go-to" one ....

Ingredients:
1 cup rava/semolina
1-1/2 cup sugar (adjust to taste, can range from 1-1/4 cup to 1-3/4 cup)
2 cups water
A few drops of red or orange food color
1/4 cup ghee/melted butter
1 tsp powdered cardamom
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp cashew pieces

Method

1. In a large saute pan, heat 2 tbsp ghee.
2. Roast the raisins until it plumps up; set aside.
3. Roast the cashews until golden brown; set aside.
4. Roast rava for a 3-4 minutes, until it turns light brown; set aside.
5. Boil 2 cups of water in the same pan.
6. When the water comes to a rolling boil, add the sugar. Let it boil for a few minutes, until the sugar dissolves and the water gets a little viscous.
7. Add the food color and then the roasted semolina.
8. Stir vigorously so that no lumps are formed.
9. Keep stirring until semolina absorbs all the water, about 3-5 min.
10. Add the ghee slowly, half a tbsp at a time.
11. After a few minutes the whole mass will start pulling away from the side.
12. Check to make sure semolina is fully-cooked (by now it should have).
13. Add the cardamom powder, raisins and cashews. Mix well, switch off the heat.
14. Serve warm.

Adjust ghee and sugar according to your taste. I sometimes add as little as 2 tbsp or so of ghee. The more fat you add, better is the taste but feel free to adjust the amount as per your requirement. Also, the ratio of semolina to water depends on the variety. If you are using a coarse semolina it might need more water. I normally start with a nominal quantity of water. If the semolina absorbs all the water and still looks uncooked, then I add a ladle full or so of boiling water and keep doing this until the semolina is cooked well. You can adjust the quantity of the ingredients in this recipe right until the end of the cooking process to get the desired result.

Enjoy!