Kesari Recipe / Rava kesari Recipe / Sooji halwa is an easy and simple sweet prepared during important occasions like birthday, diwali, wedding and new year . This rava kesari is usually made with rava(semolina),sugar and ghee, though the ingredients are very simple and straight forward, the taste is captivating and can be very satisfying. This kesari recipe is my family favourite sweet and I am pleased to share my mom’s recipe. Below rava kesari recipe is made by my mom  for my blog and she also send some pictures of the recipe taken by my sister in law (subha). Thank you amma and subha for this tasty kesari recipe and mouthwatering photographs..

Ingredients for Kesari Recipe

• 1 Cup of Rava (Semolina)
• 1 Cup of Sugar
• 2 Cups of Water
• 1/4 Cup of Ghee (Clarified Butter)
• 2 Pinch of Orange Food Color
• 2 Green Cardamom
• Few Cashew Nuts
• Pinch of Salt

Method for Rava Kesari Recipe

• Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a non stick pan, roast it until it turns light brown and nice aroma arises. Transfer the roasted rava to a plate and keep it aside.
• Heat a pan with ghee, roast cashews and rasins, fry for a min. Keep this aside.
• Heat water in a pan, after it comes to a rolling boil, add food color to it, mix well, turn it to a medium flame, add roasted rava little by little to a boiling water, keep on stirring continuously, take care to avoid lumps and stir well.
• Cover and cook until rava are cooked. Add sugar and stir well for 3-4 mins to avoid lumps.
• Finally add ghee, pinch of salt, cardamom,roasted cashews and raisins
• Hot and yummy kesari is ready to eat.

Tips 

• Adjust the amount of sugar according to your taste.
• Addition of ghee gives a nice aroma and taste.
• If you got lumps, don’t worry, keep on stirring to avoid it and mash it later.
• You can use any food color to this kesari.
• If you got pineapple, blend it with water and add it in place of water and make kesari.
• You can also add saffron to kesari, if you have.

Easy Paal Kozhukattai Recipe / Rice dumplings in jaggery coconut milk sauce is a authentic sweet, prepared during festival occasions like vinagayar chaturthi. This easy chettinadu paal kozhukattai recipe is very simple to make and heavenly in taste, when you bite a single ball, you can feel the soft texture and juice taste. The richness of coconut milk along with sweetness of jaggery make the kozhukattai delicious. Easy Paal kozhukattai recipe can also be eaten as snacks on weekends.

To make this easy paal kozhukattai recipe, use either with cow’s milk or coconut milk for sauce. For sweetness, you can try it either sugar or jaggery. Here I used jaggery to make thispaalkozhukattai. I bet this perfectly shaped rice balls in jaggery-coconut milk sauce will definitely win your heart. Try this easypaalkozhukattai recipe in your home forganeshchaturthi.

Ingredients for paal kozhukattai recipe

To Make Rice Balls

• 1 Cup of Rice Flour
• 1 and 1/4 Cup of Water
• 1 Tsp of Oil (Gingelly Oil/Ghee/Vegetable Oil)
• Salt to Taste (about 1/2 Tsp)

To Make Jaggery Syrup

• 1 Cup of Jaggery
• 1 and 1/2 Cup of Water

Other Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup of Coconut Milk(Canned) and 1/4 Cup of Water
• 3 Cardamom, Crushed

Method for paal kozhukattai recipe

• Sieve and take the rice flour in a wide mixing bowl.
• In the mean time, heat a pan/wok, add water, salt and oil, boil it for few mins.

• In a medium flame, slowly add the rice flour to the water, mix well with a wooden spoon without forming any lumps. To test, pinch a marble size dough and make a ball out of it. Now dough is ready.

• Grate and measure the jaggery. Meanwhile, heat a pan with water and add jaggery, let it boil in the stove for few mins. Once you get the boil, turn off the stove. Filter the jaggery water, to remove impurities.

• Grease your hand with oil, and start making round balls from the rice dough. Take the filtered jaggery water again in the same pan, when it starts boiling, add the rice balls. Cook for 10 mins in a medium flame.

• Once the jaggery water thickens and kozhukattai floats on top of the pan, add crushed cardamom and coconut milk and water, mix well. Turn off the stove.

• After 30 mins, serve it hot or cold in a serving bowl. I love cold kozhukattai. Yum..yum..

Tips

• You can use store bought rice flour or home made rice flour to make kozhukattai.
• You can replace jaggery with sugar.
• You can replace coconut milk with cow’s milk
• After pouring the coconut milk, don’t boil it. Then it starts to curdle.
• Increase or decrease the jaggery as per to your taste.
• You can make coconut milk with coconut instead of using canned ones. In that case, you have to make thick and thin coconut milk.
• Make uniform size balls for even cooking.
• You can make this kozhukattai round shape or any shape. My mom makes it like long cylindrical shape.

     Health Benefits of Kozhukattai 

• Rice : Gives you instant energy and they are easily digestible.
• Jaggery : Rich in minerals, cleansing agent, digestive agent, prevents bile disorders.
• Coconut Milk : Substitute for coffee cream, build strong bones, moisturize skin, fight infection, maintain blood sugar levels.