Recipe:

• Heat a tbsp of ghee, roast 2 tbsp of cashews and dry grapes to golden brown color. Collect in a separate cup and keep this aside.
• In the same pan, again add 3 tbsp ghee and heat.
• Add 1 cup of fine rava/semolina/sooji and roast in medium heat.
• Fry continuously for around 5 to 7 minutes until you get a nice aroma from the rava. By this time the rava will become light brown in color.
• In the meantime time, heat two and a half cup of water. Use the same measuring cup.
• When the water is coming to a full boiling stage, add the roasted rava gradually and mix very quickly.
• Mixing quickly and continuously in medium heat is a very important step.
• If the water is not boiling hot or if you don't mix quickly, rava may get lumps.
• Mix well in such a way that there are no lumps.
• Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and cook the sooji for 3-5 mins.
• Open the lid and check the doneness by pressing with fingers.
• If the rava is soft that means it's cooked.
• Now add 1.5 cups of sugar and mix well. Increase or reduce the amount of sugar as per taste. For me,1.5 cups of sugar for 1 cup of rava gives perfect sweetness.
• Initially while adding sugar crystals the mixture may look like forming lumps.
• But don't bother, while mixing continuously the sugar melts and becomes gooey.
• Continue to mix in low heat for two minutes.
• If using kesari/saffron strands(soaked in warm water for 20mins) add at this stage. For those who don't have saffron, add natural saffron/orange food color, a pinch mixed in a tsp of water.
• Add the remaining ghee now with fried cashews, dry grapes and cardamom powder.
• Mix everything together finally and switch off.
• Yummy, melting in the mouth, rava kesari is ready to serve.