Rava/Semolina Kheer

Whoohoo! Next Friday this time I’m going to be at the Airport waiting for our flight to India. Yes, we are going on holiday for 6 weeks. It’s been almost 2 years since we've been home. This will be Lucas’ first visit to see his grandparents and extended family. I’m so excited! J

I can’t wait to get back home and catch up with family and friends. And the families too are excited to meet Chackochi and see Kochu all grown up. And of course we can’t wait to meet the latest addition to my husband’s family. We have a beautiful little nephew enter the world as of Tuesday this week. Yay!! So I am counting down days and there’s only 6 days to go!

And because I’m going to away for some time I thought I’d put up a few recipes I had floating around and have been meaning to put up , like forever. So brace yourself for an onslaught of delicious recipes in the next few days! Today’s recipe is a sweet dish that you can whip up in less than 30 mins and satisfy that sweet tooth with everyday stuff you’re bound to have in your pantry.

Almost every Indian household is bound to have rava/semolina stocked up. As it’s such a versatile ingredient, you can make amazing dishes with semolina.  The recipe of the day is Rava Kheer. This pudding is easily digestible and it doubles even as a baby food. I’ve been giving this to Chackochi when he was recovering from his viral fever and had not gotten his appetite back. I’d reduce the amount of sugar mentioned in the recipe if you’re going to use it as baby food though.

You can serve the kheer hot, warm or chilled. Here are some pics to drool over if you still haven’t made up your mind if or not to make this delicious pudding. Speaking of which, can you believe I took these pics on my phone and not a professional camera? Look at that clarity! JJ

Rava Kheer/Rava Paysam

Recipe adapted from: Veg Recipes of India

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp suji/rava/semolina
• 3 cups milk
• 1 tblsp condensed milk (optional)
•  ¼ tsp cardamom powder
• 2 tbsp cashews
• 2 tbsp sugar or add as required
• 1 tbsp ghee

Method

1. Heat ½ tsp ghee in a pan. Then add cashews and sauté for about a minute on a low flame until golden. Keep aside.
2. Add the remaining ghee to the pan and add rava to the ghee. Fry till the rava becomes fragrant.
3. Stir continuously so that the rava gets fried evenly. This takes about 3 to 4 minutes on a low flame.
4. Add milk and stir.
5. Add sugar. Stir and bring the rava kheer to a gentle simmer. You can thicken the kheer more if you prefer.
6. Lastly add cardamom powder and the condensed milk. Stir the rava kheer and switch off the flame.
7. Serve in individual bowls and garnish with the fried cashews.
8. Serve yummy rava kheer hot or warm or refrigerate.

Notes:

• You can leave the condensed milk out if your making this as a baby food
• You can make it more nutritious by adding some dry fruits like raisins or prunes etc as well. I’d add them in Step 6
• You can make the kheer as thick or thin as you like. To make it more loose add a bit more milk and don’t simmer as much.
• Few saffron strands can be added to the kheer too.
• For a rich flavor, use full fat milk.