Sweet Kesari Hearts

Submitted by Kalpana Gopinath on Wed, 02/27/2013 - 17:07
vanihomework
Oh Wow! Very 'funny' you may feel if I ask you the recipe. But can you share the recipe and also the procedure. Every ingredient and the way each of it is added/ cooked, matters. Not doing it properly or in the right way makes a whale of a difference to even a simple dish like this. Can someone share the perfect kesari recipe? Recently I came to know from my neighbour that she adds banana and it was just yummy yummy yummy. I tasted pineapple kesari but never a banana kesari. Hence writing to know if there are any versions of kesari.
Thu, 02/28/2013 - 01:11 Permalink
Kalpana Gopinath
Hi Everyone, Thank u all for ur lovely comments:-) For Vani, here is my recipe for Kesari and my procedure of making it. Ingredients: Rava - 1 cup (Fine sooji in USA. In India use chiroti rava) Sugar - 1 cup(If it's in USA)(With Indian Sugar, for 1 cup of rava use 2 or 1 1/2cups sugar) Ghee - 3 tablespoons Cashew - For decoration Cardamom - 4 (powdered) Saffron - 2 pinches Kesari Color - 4 pinches Edible Camphor - 1 pinch (Paccha Karpooram in Tamil) Warm Milk - 1/4 cup Water - 2 cups Procedure: 1. Mix Saffron, Kesari Color, Cardamom powder and edible camphor in milk and keep it aside. 2. Heat a pan with two teaspoons of ghee and roast the cashew nuts to golden brown and take the cashew nuts out and keep it aside. 3. With the same pan roast the rava till it gets golden brown with another 2 teaspoons of ghee. 3. Put the roasted rava in a plate and let it cool to the room temperature. 4. Boil 2 cups of water in the pan with two teaspoons of ghee. 5. Once the water comes to a nice boil, slim the stove. 6. Then add the milk that was prepared at the beginning with the color, saffron etc... 7. Mix it well. 8. Then add the sugar slowly and mix it well. 9. Let it boil for 2 seconds. 10. Now add the rava slowly and stirring nicely on the very very low flame and mix it well. 11. Let it cook for 10 minutes with the lid on and later garnish it with roasted Cashew nuts and add more ghee if u want. If u want to make shapes with kesari, use 3 cups of water for 1 cup of rava. After the 11th procedure, spread the kesari in a ghee greased plate and cut the desired shapes u want and decorate it with cashew nuts. You can add raisins too if u like. I use cookie cutter for making the shapes and sometimes i will do the shapes with just knife. For adding fruits like banana or pineapple: Take 1/2 a banana for 1 cup of Rava and blend it with 1/4 cup of milk and add this paste at the end and cook it for 5 more minutes before garnishing it with cashew nuts. For pineapple Kesari, use 1/2 cup of small diced pineapple pieces. Add the pineapple pieces before you add the rava to the boiling water. ALL THE MEASUREMENTS IS FOR ONE CUP OF RAVA. Hope this information helps you:-)
Thu, 02/28/2013 - 11:05 Permalink
vanihomework

In reply to by Kalpana Gopinath

Thanks a ton! Kalpana, for so painstakingly writing the entire procedure in such detail that I am left with no doubts. Even a novice can cook it as you have written considering every aspect. By the face of it, the entire procedure, what I have been doing all these years is completely different from what you have mentioned. Probably that could be the reason why I have never enjoyed my 'kesari' as much as I enjoy eating others'. Surely, will try it and will give you my feedback too. Thanks a lot.
Thu, 02/28/2013 - 20:45 Permalink
Kalpana Gopinath

In reply to by vanihomework

Hi Vani, Thank you:-) I am happy that you liked my long description. I thought it will be boring to read such a long and detailed recipe procedure, especially for Kesari. But this is how I teach my daughters and her friends to learn Indian cooking. Waiting for your feedback with a nice picture of Kesari:-)
Fri, 03/01/2013 - 08:01 Permalink
vanihomework

In reply to by Kalpana Gopinath

This shows that you are not just a good cook but also a great Mother, a great Teacher, a great friend and many more greats. I'm touched.
Fri, 03/01/2013 - 09:22 Permalink
Lata
Looks so wonderful and cute. Great idea for the baby shower! Maybe we should also save the recipe and the picture in the recipe section. :)
Thu, 02/28/2013 - 17:16 Permalink
Kalpana Gopinath
Lata I couldn't remove the recipe from the comments section. Can u try? I uploaded it to the recipe section.
Fri, 03/01/2013 - 20:09 Permalink
Valentine's Day Special Treat;-)