Rava Kesari (semolina fudge)

I had prepared this on new years day. I hope it is okay to publish this with just a delay of 36 hours ;)...Also, i was so busy attending and making calls on that day i ended up with a white kesari. Honestly, kesari in my house always used to be white. Even being in TN for nearly 2 decades could not influence my mom/grandmom to color Kesari...But, my wedding did the trick. Getting married into a tamilian family meant that i paint my kesari with bright orange color and also add insane amount of Dalda (not even ghee :( ) to it. I wont complain about the taste though. Like everything else, there is a mom's side version and one in-law's side version of Kesari...Anyway, though my kesari looked white and pale, the taste compensated for the looks.

Ingredients

Semolina/sooji - 1 cup

Water - 2 cups

Milk (boiled and cooled) - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Cardamom - 1 pod

Ghee/dalda - 3 spoons

Cashews - 6 (broken into tiny pieces)

Raisins - 6 nos.

Method

Dry roast the semolina/sooji and keep aside. Now add one spoonful of ghee to a wok and add the cardamom pod and cashews and raisins to it. Let them turn golden brown. Remove them to a plate. Now to this ghee add the already roasted rava and fry for some more time (till you start feeling like eating it as is :) ).. Remove to a plate and let it cool. Now to the same wok, add water and milk and let it come to a boil. Add Sugar and let it dissolve. Now add the semolina to this boiling water slowly and keep stirring it to avoid lumps. This whole mixture would start to bubble and then would slow down. Add the remaining 2 spoonfuls of Ghee to this mixture and keep stirring till it starts leaving the sides. Once done, either set into a greased plate and cut, or serve in smaller bowls.

Note : Patience is the key to a good kesari. I used to skip the double roasting step and would end up with a lump.... One thing i always remind myself is that there is no short cut to success, even if it involves only cooking.