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rava kesari recipe
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rava kesari recipe with step by step photos. rava kesari is a popular and delicious south indian sweet made from semolina (rava or sooji) during the festive season. rava kesari’s north indian counterpart is sooji ka halwa which is also equally popular and taste good.

i had made rava kesari as naivedya for lord ganesha during the first day of the ganesh chaturthi festival. was not able to post the recipe all the time. finally posting when lord ganesha is leaving today…. bidding a sweet adieu to lord ganesha. rava kesari can also be made during any indian festival like janmashtami, diwali, raksha bandhan or holi.

the difference between rava kesari and sooji halwa is the color. rava kesari has an orange color – hence the term kesari which means orangish. generally synthetic orange food color is added while making rava kesari.

since i don’t use any synthetic colors in food, i have used saffron or kesar to give the color tones. saffron will give yellow tones and not orange. apart from that it gives a nice flavor and aroma to the rava kesari. if you want orange tones, then add orange food color.

there are few delicious variations of rava kesari like:

you can also use milk instead of water. this makes the rava kesari more rich. use same amount of milk as the quantity of water mentioned in the post.

to get the best texture and taste in rava kesari recipe:

  • remember to roast the rava very well.
  • also the sugar solution should be bubbling hot when adding to the hot rava-ghee mixture.
  • add the sugar solution slowly with continuous stirring so that lumps are not formed. in case lumps do form then just break them with the spatula or spoon.
  • you can also use the roasted rava. but make sure that the rava is roasted well. sometimes the readymade roasted rava is not completely roasted.

if you are looking for more halwa recipes then do check:

rava kesari recipe below:

rava kesari recipe

rava kesari recipe

rava kesari recipe - south indian dessert made with semolina, ghee, dry fruits and saffron.

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course desserts
cuisine south indian
prep time 5 minutes
cook time 10 minutes
total time 15 minutes
servings 3 to 4
calories 651 kcal
author dassana amit

ingredients (1 cup = 250 ml)

  • 1 cup fine rava (sooji or semolina or cream of wheat)
  • 5 to 6 tablespoon ghee
  • ¾ to 1 cup sugar or as required
  • 2 cups water or milk
  • 2 to 3 pinches of saffron threads (kesar)
  • 4 to 5 green cardamom - husked and powdered OR ½ teaspoon cardamom powder (choti elaichi powder)
  • ¼ cup halved or chopped cashews (kaju)

how to make recipe

preparation for rava kesari recipe:

  1. crush the cardamoms to a semi fine powder in a mortar-pestle and keep aside.
  2. also crush the saffron threads in the same mortar-pestle and keep aside.

making rava kesari:

  1. keep a kadai or pan on a low flame.
  2. add the ghee and when the ghee is heating up, do the following.

  3. take the sugar and water in another pan. instead of water you can also use milk to make rava kesari. use same amount of milk.

  4. keep this pan on a medium to high flame and let the solution come to a boil.
  5. also add the powdered saffron or kesar to the sugar solution.

  6. once the ghee becomes hot, add the rava (semolina) and keep on stirring while adding the rava.

  7. immediately add the cashews to the rava and keep on stirring the rava mixture.

  8. in the meanwhile keep your eyes also on the sugar+water solution. if the mixture starts to boil, then lower the flame and let it simmer.

  9. keep on stirring the rava for 7 to 8 minutes and when the grains change their color and when the cashews also change to a light golden, we have to add the bubbling hot sugar+water solution.

  10. increase the flame to high for the sugar solution to bubble and when it starts to bubble in a matter of seconds, immediately add it to the hot rava mixture.

  11. be careful as the mixture has the tendency to splutter. pour the sugar+water solution in the ghee+rava mixture slowly with continuous stirring.

  12. the rava or sooji will absorb the water and swell and the mixture will thicken. stir till the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan.

  13. then switch off the flame and cover the pan for 5 minutes just to allow the rava kesari to steam. 

  14. remove the lid and serve the rava kesari hot or warm.

recipe notes

  • you can add a few tbsp of ghee if you want in the rava kesari.

this approximate nutrition info is per serving:

Nutrition Facts
rava kesari recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 651 Calories from Fat 234
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 26g 40%
Saturated Fat 14g 70%
Monounsaturated Fat 6g
Cholesterol 55mg 18%
Sodium 81mg 3%
Potassium 175mg 5%
Total Carbohydrates 96g 32%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Sugars 50g
Protein 8g 16%
Vitamin A 13.3%
Vitamin C 0.3%
Calcium 42.4%
Iron 112%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.


how to make rava kesari recipe:

1: heat ghee in a kadai or a thick bottomed pan. add the rava or sooji along with cashews and begin to roast.

heat rava for making rava kesari recipe

2: dissolve sugar, water and saffron in a another pan. keep on flame and allow it to come to a boil.

sugar saffron for making rava kesari recipe

3: meanwhile continue to roast the rava (semolina) and add cardamom powder. roast till you can see the ghee getting separated and when you see the cashews getting browned. the color of the rava should not become brown. this takes approx 7-8 minutes on a low flame.

roasting rava for rava kesari recipe

4: let the sugar-saffron solution come to a boil.

sugar solution for rava kesari recipe

5: pour the sugar-saffron solution in the ghee-rava mixture slowly with continuous stirring.

sugar solution for rava kesari recipe

6: the rava or sooji will absorb the water and swell and the mixture will thicken. stir till the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan. switch off and then cover the pan for 5 minutes just to allow the rava kesari to steam. if you want to make slices, then immediately pour the rava kesari mixture in a greased pan or tray. spread evenly and when warm or cooled, cut into diamond shaped or square slices.

rava mixture for rava kesari recipe

7: serve hot or warm rava kesari as it is. you can also serve rava kesari as a side sweet dish. for more delicious rava recipes, you can check this collection of 25 rava recipes.

rava kesari recipe




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Reader Interactions

{ 89 Responses }

  1. Thank you for the recipe Dassana. Didn’t have saffron at home…I added raisins towards the end.
    The dish turned out very soft and tasty…thanks for the detailed instructions.

  3. Fan of all your recipes turned a good baker following most of your recipes,have tried rice varieties,north Indian recipes everything was a success thanks for your collection.

  4. Hi Dassana,

    Tried rava kesari and the sooji halwa recipe. Both were so delicious. Have been following your recipes since a long time, and they never disappoint with the measurements or the flavour. Thank you so much.

  6. Very tasty. ..came out too good …thanks for sharing so briefly with posting detailed photos which helps us a lot .

  10. Excellent recipe. I tried it for the first time and it turned out awesome. Thank you.

    -Rahul

  11. I have become your fan….tried several of ur recipies n all came out very well….Thank u sooo much….I really appreciate your effort n dedication…the pictorial steps help a lot….

  13. Hi
    Just saw u r recipe they are so good Nd easy to make thanks for sharing.
    I have a one in recipe you use cashew yogurt can we use cashew flour .
    Thanks
    Shashi

    • you can use cashew flour, but also add 1/2 tsp of lemon juice to give that faint sour taste in the recipe. you can also increase or decrease the amount of lemon juice as per your taste.

  15. Dearest Dassana,

    As you know, rava kesari is commonly made in Tamilian households. As a Mumbaikar now living in Coimbatore, we’ve tasted this dish many times here. After asking around for the recipe, I also tried making it at home a few times, but found considerable difference in the taste and texture.
    Made rava kesari following your recipe just now and I’m so delighted to tell you that finally I got the authentic taste that has eluded me all this while. Thank you so much! God bless you! ☺

    Love,

    Neeti

  16. Tried kesari (which was part of a thali dish) in one of the local South Indian restaurants and was curious about it. So I searched for the recipe and came across your website. I am not much of a cook and the recipe looked simple enough so I decided to try it. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out PERFECT!

    The step-by-step illustrations are very helpful. Thank you for the recipes.

  19. Hi Dassana,

    Today i have tried Reva kesari.For 1 cup rava,2 glass water is enough?
    I tried with 2 cups of water but the rava was not cooked well,so again heat the 2 glass of water separately and mixed with Rava mixture…After that only it steamed well.
    Could you pls correct me the water level. having added the hot water in between the reva mixture the taste is not good.Pls correct me

    • did you use 2 cups or 2 glass. 2 cups of 250 ml each is equal to 500 ml water. as a rule, you could add from 2 cups (500 ml) to 3 cups (750 ml) of water for any kesari recipe. if the rava is roasted very well, then its gets cooked also well in water. 2 cups is enough for 1 cup of rava. it also depends which rava you used. best is to use the fine rava and not the coarser ones. the taste does not come good when you mix hot water later is that by the time you heat water, the rava mixture cools down and when hot water is added, the rava becomes lumpy and does not cook well. so in such cases, you can just add the extra water at room temperature and cook the rava in it.

  20. really i went through your recipes of Hotel type sambar for idlis and kesaribath amazing and awesome
    Kindly requesting you to subscribe the new recipes to my mail id

  21. I will be attempting this for Holi this week. A few decades ago, I use to work for a private firm in Delhi, owned by a Tamil Brahmin family. The lady use to make this for every pooja she did, however she always added a well ripe mashed banana, along with the sugar mixture. That use to be real treat.

  22. I was trying to make Kesari several times .., but your recipe was awesome .
    And for the first time in my life., my kesari tastes exactly like south Indian kesari . Thank you very much .
    Also Its my passion to try some weird experiments with my cooking .., so during my second attempt to make your recipe I added 400 Ml of pineapple Jam with the boiling sugar solution . .,and my friends and family ( they were the helpless victims of my cooking lab’s products 🙂 ) said that ..its tastes like a 5 star dish . Thank you so much

  23. Three days holidays for self, wife and child. To pass time, made kesari as per receive, but added more dry fruits and little jeera and milagu also – more as a fun than as necessity. It also tasted well.

  24. Hi dassana….every time I make this.simple dish something goes wrong. So came here fully trusting nothing can go wrong. I was right. Came perfect. Thank you.

  25. Can I know if we can add milk instead of water ? Will it be equally good as this recipe ?

  26. This is an awesome recipe 🙂
    I did made some changes n it turned out pretty delicious
    I combined white & brown sugar as per the measurement n half cup of cashew n the result was incredible.
    Tq for sharing

  27. I made Rava Kesari exactly as per your site instructions, believe me it has come out really yummy. Slowly becoming a house-husband!!! Thanks a lot … Its a Vijaya Dasami offering to God ….

  28. I have had sheera in south indian restaurants (didnt know its called rava kesari). They also add cloves (lavang) to it and it tastes delicious.

    This turned out to be good. I did add the cloves to emulate the restaurant taste but I hardly got the taste of it.. Have you tried using cloves ever?

  29. Have tried many kesari bath recipes.. and this was the only one succeeded.. I got awesome response from my hubby…:) thanks a lot dassana..

  30. hi
    i used to cook rawa but it used to never turn out the way it turned out from your recipe,the rawa was just perfect !!!!! thank you

  31. Hi, I am planning to make this wonderful kesari for a group of friends. Can you tell me the measurements if I have to make this for around 17 people. I don’t wan’t to go wrong with my estimates.

    • for making a sweet like kesari, you can easily increase the recipe proportionately. generally as a ratio for 1 cup of rava, 1/2 cup ghee is used. the sugar can vary from 1 cup to 1.5 cups or more. this recipe served about 3 to 4 servings. so you can increase everything proportionately.

  35. Hello,
    I am really thankful for the step by step guide to the recipie with pictures, and its really tempting. I tried it and really enjoyed it a lot..Thanks for posting such type of recipe.

  38. Hello,
    I am thankful for the step by step guide to the recipie with pictures, and its really tempting. I became fond of Kesribath when I was in Bangalore, and today I am through with the procedure and shall try out at home.Another favourite sweet dish is Obattu which is really relishing and I think most of the viewer will appreciate the dish if shown.
    Thanks
    L.I.Misra
    Asst.Professor Dept.of Hotel Management
    School of Hotel Management,SOA University
    Bhuabneswar
    Odisha

  39. I had been trying ravva kesari for many times and it never came out so well. And your recipe helped me a lot to make it look and taste so perfect and just the way my family likes it. Ravva Kesari came out really well. Thanks a lot.

  40. hi dasana.love this recipe.In mauritius, we do this recipe during prayers, and nearly same ingredients and procedures like your recipe, only difference, we heat the semolina until light brown or we buy grilled semolina.I have never tried with ungrilled semolina..will the taste vary with grilled semolina? Anyway, ur recipe seems very good..will give it a try soon and will give the feedback.

    • by grilled semolina i think you mean pre roasted semolina. the taste will not vary. what you do is heat ghee and just lightly fry the semolina in ghee for a few minutes till they become aroamatic and the ghee starts to release. but don’t brown them. you won’t take long as mentioned in this recipe as here the semolina is not roasted.

  42. Dasanna,namaskara & thanks a million for sending such a wonderful & tasty recipes,today i am going to try Rawa halwa,once again thank you very much,please keep posting your latest recipes regularly.

    • Raju P.M, thanks for the encouraging comment. you can also subscribe to email updates or facebook or twitter to stay updated with latest recipes.

  43. hi dasanna, its very tasty item,wen i hav seen pictures too tempting.thanq u soooooooo much 4 introducing dis recipe..

  45. Hey Dassana,
    The recipe is temptating. The sooji has taken the color of kesar…looks yummy. Will definately try this. I have also tried your Papaya halwa which tastes really good. On seeing the halwa everyone at home thought its a carrot halwa. Thanks for sharing.