Paal Kesari | Sooji Halwa
Paal Kesari is a tasty Indian sweet. Milk gives nice flavour to the kesari. Paal kesari can be easily made in Stove top and pressure cooker.
Kesari is one of the common sweets prepared at home. Having a sweet tooth, sis and I ask Amma to frequently prepare kesari with any snack like bhajji, pakoda , Bonda etc. My mom used to tease us asking "Entha Mapalai varar ungala parka ;-)"
In our culture, there was a trend when bride and groom meet for first time, kesari is served. Kesari is usually prepared with water, but replacing water with milk gives a good taste.
I have posted easy pressure cooker Kesari. This one is rich and tastes paal (milk)kesari. Traditionally Paal kesari is prepared without food color,Saffron gives nice yellow color. My son got used to enjoying orange kesari so I sometimes add orange color for my Paal kesari too. Rava laddu is yer another favorite sweet prepared with sooji
I initially posted Paal kesari recipe with stove top method but offlate I have been using my Instant pot a lot so recently I updated the recipe with IP. I common problem while making kesari is lumpness that comes after adding sugar. Without much stirring Instant pot makes a tasty creamy paal kesari without any lump.
Instant pot Paal kesari
✅ Kesari without any lump
✅ 10 minutes cooking
✅ Stays good for 2 days
✅ Instant pot cooking
✅Rich and creamy
Ingredients
- Rava Sooji/Semolina - 1 cup
- Sugar - 2 cups + ½ cup Adjust according to your taste
- Milk - 2 cups + ½ cup
- Butter / Ghee - 4 tablespoon + 1 tbsp
- Cardamom powder - ¼ tsp
- Nuts and raisin - to garnish I used cashew
- Saffron - few strands
Instructions
- Turn on Instant pot in sauté mode
- Add butter and let it melts
- Add cashew and sauté till cashews turns golden brown
- Add raisins and give it quick mix
- Transfer the nuts and raisins into a cup
- Add Rava and sauté well
- Mix well and sauté to avoid Rava from turning brown
- Sauté for 2 minutes, turn off IP
- Add sugar and mix well
- Add pinch of salt and cardamom powder; mix well
- Add hot boiling milk. Mix well and deglaze the IP well
- Add few saffron and mix well
- Add butter and close the IP lid. Pressure cook for 4 minutes in LP
- NPR. Mix the kesari well and add sautéd nuts and raisins . Instant pot Paal Kesari is ready😊
Video
Notes
- Adjust sugar according to your taste
- Pinch of food color can be added (I didn’t add any food color for instant pot kesari)
- Adjust butter according to your preference. Kesari can be prepared even with just 1 teaspoon of butter or without any butter
- Always add hot boiling milk. Room temperature or warm milk won’t give the same texture kesari
- Regular kesari can be prepared in the same way using instant pot. Use hot boiling water (kettle auto cut off water) instead of milk
- Deglaze the IP well to avoid the kesari from getting burn
- If the instant pot shows burnt it means rava/sugar stuck to the pot. Release the pressure immediately
- Make sure the pressure setting is low. High pressure will burn the pot
- Milk quantity may vary according to the Rava
Ingredients:
Rava (Sooji)/Semolina - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 cups + ½ cup (Adjust according to your taste)
Milk - 2 cups + ½ cup
Butter / Ghee - 4 tablespoon + 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder - ¼ tsp
Nuts and raisin - to garnish (I used cashew)
Saffron - few strands:
How to make Paal kesar in instant pot method with step by step pictures:
- Turn on Instant pot in sauté mode
- Add butter and let it melts
- Add cashew and sauté till cashews turns golden brown
- Add raisins and give it quick mix
- Transfer the nuts and raisins into a cup
- Add Rava and sauté well
- Mix well and sauté to avoid Rava from turning brown
- Sauté for 2 minutes, turn off IP
- Add sugar and mix well
- Add pinch of salt and cardamom powder; mix well
- Add hot boiling milk. Mix well and deglaze the IP well
- Add few saffron and mix well
- Add butter and close the IP lid. Pressure cook for 4 minutes in LP
- NPR. Mix the kesari well and add sautéd nuts and raisins . Instant pot Paal Kesari is ready😊
Paal Kesari | Sooji Halwa
Ingredients
- Rava Sooji/Semolina - 1 cup
- Sugar - 2 + ½ cup Adjust according to your taste
- Milk - 2 cup + ½ cup
- Butter / Ghee - 4 tablespoon + 1 tbsp
- Cardamom powder - ¼ tsp
- 40 grams Cashew nuts
- 25 grams raisins
- few saffron
Instructions
- Add 1 tablespoon of ghee and roast nuts and raisins till they are golden brown, and set aside
- In the same pan dry roast the rava for 2 minutes (Roast them till aroma comes) and transfer it to a plate.
- In medium flame add milk to the same pan and when milk starts boiling add the rava and stir continously to avoid lumps
- Continue cooking till its cooked. Check whether Rava is cooked before adding sugar
- Add sugar, and cook till sugar melts completely and Kesari thickens. stir it occassionally
- Add butter and food color, continue cooking till food color dissolves and mixs completely
- Turn off when kesari separates from the pan. Add nuts and raisins, and serve the Kesari hot/cold. Kesari thickens with time so switch it off accordingly
Video
Notes
- Instead of adding food color at the end can also add them while boiling milk. I have used orange food color instead yellow, green or any other food color can be used
- I have used brown sugar instead white sugar can also be used
- Can add almond/vanilla/pineapple extract or any other essence for taste
- Saffron can also be added
- Pachai karpuram can also be added for flavour
How to make Paal kesari in Stove top with step by step pictures:
- Add 1 tablespoon of ghee and roast nuts and raisins till they are golden brown, and set aside
- In the same pan dry roast the rava for 2 minutes (Roast them till aroma comes) and transfer it to a plate.
- In medium flame add milk to the same pan and when milk starts boiling add the rava and stir continously to avoid lumps
- Continue cooking till its cooked. Check whether Rava is cooked before adding sugar
- Add sugar, and cook till sugar melts completely and Kesari thickens. stir it occassionally
- Add butter and food color, continue cooking till food color dissolves and mixs completely
- Turn off when kesari separates from the pan. Add nuts and raisins, and serve the Kesari hot/cold. Kesari thickens with time so switch it off accordingly
Beautiful recipe, love the orange color!
Thanku Bonnie:-)
Yummy Semolina treat! Can I use coconut sugar instead of Brown sugar?
Yes Ema you use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar:-)
Actually, I love the coconut flavor. Happy Cooking 🙂
Sounds lovely I like the mixture of nuts and raisens thanks for sharing
Thanku:-) nuts gave nice texture and taste to the dish
Yummm
Thanku Sonal:-)
A bowl of kesari would 'hit the spot right now'. Thanks for making me drool 🙂
Glad you liked it:-) agree its so addictive
so pretty! And looks healthy, too 🙂 I'd eat it for breakfast!
Thanks Liz:-)
yum.. Love the texture 🙂
Thanku Sri:-)
Wow scrumptious and elegant kesari.... love it...
Thanku Chitra:-)
wow! I've never tried anything like this! i totally love the color! Sounds delicious to me!
Thanku:-)
Lovely! I will prepare this soon. I have only white sugar though 🙁
Thanks Shalz:-) you can prepare it with white sugar as well infact traditionally its prepared with white sugar
Delicious. .my kutty love it 🙂
Thanku dear:-)
My grandmom used to make this for me. Oh! You made me nostalgic 🙂
Thanku Skd:-) grandma recipes are always best
Never tried with milk always water, gonna try it soon!! Looks so rich dear 🙂 Yum!!!
Thanku dear:-) sure do try Malar
This sounds wonderful!
Thanku:-)
Yum Yum..!! Last pic is looking like Phirni.. Mouth watering..!
Thanku Fatima:-)
It looks truly delicious and probably it would make a great start of the day. Is it like a sort of pudding? I'm so weak when comes to sweet foods, I just can't resist 🙂 but you know my sister says, true we could live without sweets, but what kind of life would that be 😀
Thanku Marta:-) I agree even I can't imagine life without sweets..oh ya its a semolina puddinf
Wow! It looks very cheerful! Orange is such a lively colour!
TC! Keep smiling 🙂
Thanku Sindhu:-)
This looks so delicious!
Thanku Stephanie:-)
Very inviting n droolworthy paal kesari, feel like inviting myself to ur place.
Thanku Priya:-)
Wow adding milk instead of water,sounds good,going to try
Thanku
Looks delicious Paal kesari love it.
Thanku Swathi:-)
Kesari with puri! Yummy Vidya 🙂
Thanku Naina:-)
This looks yummy. Beautiful color. 🙂
Rich and divine kesari........lovely!
I have someone who loves this...so i am inspired to make it by just looking at your pics. Adding milk is a new twist!
What a lovely blog you have!
Thanku
This looks so delicious.. Love the orange hue.. 🙂
I love Indian sweets and desserts. Always a pleasure to eat and healthy too!
Is anyone there? ?
Hi Marta, thanks for stopping by and pinging:-) everything is fine at my side
What lovely presentation! It looks so chic & delish.
Lovely pictures and recipe, Vidya! I am already drooling over your Paal Kesari. Should try this one very soon! Have a wonderful day ahead! 🙂
yum yum yum .... heyyyyyyyyyyyyy how you doing
Thanku:-) I am fine thanks for your concern
I was wondering what Rava is but then I saw sooji or semolina, which are the names I'm familiar with. I think I want to try this. It's quite simple to make. I shall give you a feedback!
Do try and let me know Liz:-)