Ingredients:
- 1 cup Cream of Wheat (fine type of cream of wheat)
- 1 cup Clarified Butter (unsalted, 4 sticks)
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon Kesari Powder or Orange Food Color
- 2 – 3 cups Sugar (cane sugar)
- 10 – 12 Cashews (broken into small pieces)
- 1/4 cup Raisins (brown or golden color)
- 1 – 2 teaspoon Cardamom Powder
- 4 – 6 cups Water
Instructions:
- Place a kettle with 6 cups of water on medium heat. When the water is very hot, turn the heat to very low.
- On another stove or burner, place a slightly deep medium size non-stick fry pan on medium heat. Save two tablespoons of clarified butter or ghee, and add the rest to the pan. Note: Most people, or perhaps all the people, usually add very little clarified butter or ghee to stir fry the cream of wheat initially, and then add the rest at the end. But the best way to get perfect Rava Kesari is to use all or most of the butter or ghee initially.
- Add 1 cup of fine cream of wheat. Stir with a non-stick spatula and mix well. Keep stirring.
- Lower the heat, if necessary. Stir fry the cream of wheat, until the cream of wheat becomes off-white color. Do not burn the cream of wheat.
- Add the hot water gradually into the pan, until the mixture is creamy and thin. Keep stirring.
- Keep adding water until the cream of wheat is cooked and the mixture is creamy. Add a little kesari powder or orange food coloring and mix thoroughly.
- Add the ground cardamom powder and mix thoroughly.
- Add more kesari powder or orange food color until the mixture is a nice shade of orange. Add a little water so that the mixture stays creamy. Mix until the color is uniformly spread.
- Mix well, until all the sugar is melted and absorbed. Set the Rava Kesari aside.
- Place a small pan on medium heat. Place one tablespoon of saved clarified butter or ghee to the pan. When it is hot, add the cashew pieces. Keep stirring until the cashews are light golden brown. Do not burn the cashews. Transfer the contents to a small bowl.
- Place the Rava Kesari pan back on the stove. Add the stir fried cashews and mix.
- Add the other tablespoon of saved clarified butter or ghee to the pan. When it is hot, add the raisins. Keep stirring rapidly until the raisins bloat up and look fried.