Milk kesari / semolina pudding is a delicious south Indian dessert made with ghee, milk, semolina, and sugar. In regular rava kesari water is added mainly. To add more richness and a twist to the regular kesari, milk is used to cook the semolina. Have you tasted amirtham (like divine god food)?. The very first time I tasted this dish was at Adyar ananda bhavan, a south Indian restaurant. This dessert is a wonder.
Milk kesari is an Indian semolina pudding made using sooji, milk, sugar, ghee, dried fruits and nuts. It is a richer version of rava kesari and much more delicious.
Milk Kesari Recipe
Whenever people drop in or when we call people for virunthu(we invite newly married couples for lunch or dinner), the first sweet which amma makes is kesari. I have few recipes for kesari in this blog like rava kesari, pineapple kesari and semiya kesari.
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Kesari is a staple south Indian sweet, it is so simple to make. But sometimes if you miss a measurement or add less ghee, then kesari can turn out so sticky. For me kesari should have a good amount of ghee. So when you have a spoonful of it, it should just slip off your tongue and fall it without sticking anywhere. This recipe is a modification from our regular rava kesari. Instead of water, I added milk. And I added some saffron and lots of fried nuts in it. I even cooked this kesari a little longer so I made pieces out of it.
About Milk kesari
Rava kesari will be the very first dessert that will be tried by many new cooks in their cooking journey. Milk rava kesari is a quick Indian sweet made for festivals, for special occasions like ponnu pakura function (bride seeing ceremony). Milk semolina kesari / pudding made with milk, saffron make it an exotic Indian sweet dish.
My mom loves semolina kesari more than semiya ( vermicelli ) kesari. Whenever I make kesari, she will insist that I should prepare semolina kesari for evening dessert. This Indian pudding can be prepared in less than 20 minutes.
In most of the South Indian restaurants, they serve mini tiffin for breakfast. In that platter, rava kesari is a must include dessert. It completes your meal in the morning. Rava / semolina / sooji is also known as cream of wheat. Kesari is one of the very popular and quick Indian sweets in many south Indian households but equally popular in north Indian as well, whereas it is named as sooji ka halwa.
Traditional way of making an kesari is by roasting the cashew nuts, raisins in ghee. Then roasting the rava / semolina / sooji in ghee for 2 minutes until a nice aroma comes. Boiling water will be added to the roasted rava, covered and cooked. Then sugar, ghee is added and stirred until desired consistency reaches. To give rich taste, we are going to milk instead of water and saffron soaked in milk is added to give natural color. No artificial color is used.
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Why does this recipe work
Milk kesari is one of the fail proof Indian sweet recipe.It can be made in jiffy. The combination of milk, sugar, saffron, rava/semolina creates a delicious, creamy, and aromatic dessert that’s sure to please!
Time efficiency : If you have any sudden guests at home, this milk rava kesari comes in handy.It can be made in less than 30 minutes. This recipe is also made as one pot Indian sweets using a pressure cooker.
Texture & Flavour : Cooking the semolina in milk gives a rich and smooth texture to the dessert. Using full fat whole milk,adds more complex flavour to the semolina pudding.
Why I Love My Milk Kesari - Rava kesari is a nostalgic Indian dessert for many people including me. It is one of the sweets that reminds us of our childhood days, family gatherings and festive occasions. It is relatively simple and easy to follow, making it accessible to all people. The instructions are clear and simple to prepare this semolina milk kesari.
Versatile : Semolina milk kesari can be customized to suit individual taste. Fruits or chocolate of your choice can be added to enhance the taste.
Comfort sweet : Kesari is the most comfortable and quickest dessert prepared at every home. It is often made when sudden sweet cravings appear or when you are stressed out, this kesari recipe comes to mind first
Milk Kesari Ingredients
Sooji / rava / semolina : Roasted rava is used for this recipe. If you didn’t have store bought roasted rava, then slightly roast the rava in ghee for 2 minutes.
Sugar : The quantity of sugar can be adjusted according to your preference. Adding condensed milk also gives a rich and creamy texture to the milk kesari.
Milk : For milk kesari, use full fat cream milk. Whole milk is recommended for a rich, creamy texture.
Ghee / clarified butter : Pure ghee is used to roast the nuts and the semolina. It brings outs the nutty flavour.
Cardamom powder : Green cardamom powder used for its sweet, aromatic flavour.
Saffron : Saffron gives a luxurious color to the semolina dessert.
Nuts & dried fruits : Nuts and dried fruits are added for the nutty texture and garnishing for the dessert.
How to Make Milk Kesari (Stepwise Pictures)
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Take all your ingredients |
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| Fry up your mixture of nuts |
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| Heat ghee in a nonstick pan |
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| Add in sooji |
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| Fry for a couple of mins |
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| Add in milk |
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| Mix well so no lumps are formed |
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| Cover and cook |
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| Till the milk is completely absorbed |
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| Now add in sugar |
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| Mix well |
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| Add in saffron and cardamom powder |
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| Mix well |
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| Add in half of the ghee |
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| Add a pinch of food colour |
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| Mix well |
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| Now add the remaining ghee |
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| Cook till it leaves the sides of the pan |
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| Cook Cook Cook |
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| Add the fried nuts |
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| Mix well |
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| Pour it in a greased pan |
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| Cut and Serve |
Expert tips
To make perfect milk rava kesari , follow these tips and tricks :
- Roast the semolina / sooji in ghee until it turns light brown and fragrant.
- Stir the sooji to prevent burning.
- Use of whole milk provides best results.
- Avoid lumps while cooking the semolina / rava.
- Soak the saffron in warm milk for 10 minutes.
- For special occasions, use some moulds like heart shaped for visual treat.
FAQ
1.What is the difference between rava kesari and milk kesari?
Rava/ semolina kesari is made with water, sugar and artificial color. Whereas milk kesari is made with milk, ghee, sugar and saffrron. Saffron gives a rich and natural color to the recipe.
2.Can I replace the white sugar with jaggery?
Yes, you can use country sugar, stevia, and coconut sugar.
3.Can I add fruits to the kesari ?
Yes, you can add fruits like pineapple, mango, strawberry, blueberry for your choice.
4.Is it possible to store the milk kesari?
Store the milk kesari in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh upto 3 days.
5.Is it possible to make it gluten free?
For a gluten free kesari recipe, you should try to add roasted amarnath seeds instead of sooji/ rava.
Variations
Sooji ka halwa : It is a traditional Maharashtrian sweet. It is also known as sheera. It is served with poori.
Fruits based kesari : There are types of fruit kesari recipes also available. Like pineapple kesari, mango kesari, strawberry kesari, blueberry kesari.
Cookie base kesari : For this recipe, crush some biscuits with melted butter. In a mould, add cookie dough as base on top of it and add any fruit based kesari. It will be a fusion dessert.
Chocolate kesari : Mix in cocoa powder or melted chocolate for a rich and chocolaty flavour.
Vegan kesari : Replacing milk with non-diary milk products like soy milk, almond milk, oat milk.
More Kesari Recipes
📖 Recipe Card
Milk Kesari Recipe (Paal Kesari)
Equipment
- Cooking pot
Ingredients
- ½ cup Sooji | Rava
- 1 cup Sugar
- 2 cups Milk
- ½ cup Ghee
- ½ tsp Ground Cardamom
- ¼ tsp Saffron
- ½ cup Nuts & Dried Fruits Almonds, Cashews & Sultanas
Instructions
- In a tsp of ghee fry the nuts and dried fruits till golden. Set aside.
- Take a non stick kadai and heat a tsp of ghee. Add in sooji and fry for a couple of mins. Now add in milk and mix well stirring constantly so lumps are formed.
- Once everything is mixed well. Cover the pan and cook on a very low flame for 10 mins till all milk is absorbed and the sooji is cooked.
- Now add in sugar and mix well. The mixture will turn runny again. Now keep stirring so nothing sticks to the pan. Add in cardamom and saffron. Mix well.
- Now add in half of the ghee and stir constantly. Once it is absorbed, add in the food colouring and mix well. Add the remaining ghee and mix well. Add the fried nuts also.
- Once the mixtures leaves the sides of the pan and come together as a mass.
- Now pour this in a greased plate and allow it to set for 15 mins, or you can serve by scooping it into individual bowls.
- Once the kesari is set, cut into squares and serve.
Notes
- While adding milk stir continously so no lumps are formed. If you are nervous about this, you can boil the milk separately and pour that in while mixing. This will avoid formation of lumps. Avoid lumps while cooking the semolina / rava.
- The amount of ghee depends on your taste. Adding ½ cup of ghee will give good taste and texture. You can reduce it as you like.
- Roasting rava is important, Even though you buy roasted sooji, give a good couple of mins roast in ghee. That will give good aroma.
- Sugar level also depends on taste. 1 cup of sugar makes a medium sweet kesari and i love it this way. You can increase the sugar level if you like it too sweet.
- Roast the semolina / sooji in ghee until it turns light brown and fragrant.
- Stir the sooji to prevent burning.
- Use of whole milk provides best results.
- Soak the saffron in warm milk for 10 minutes.
- For special occasions, use some moulds like heart shaped for visual treat.
Nutrition
If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can.
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Suchi Sm
ohhh yummy drooling here... sure wanna give up a try for this...
Sakunthala
பால் கேசரி மிகவும் அருமை.
Priya Suresh
Beautifully done, who can resist to this wonderful kesari.
Neshini
Hi
Can I reduce the sugar quantity? my family does not like too much sweet
Aarthi
@Neshiniyes u can reduce it and add as per your taste