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    Home » Recipes » Sweets

    Rava kesari recipe, How to make rava kesari without lumps

    August 23, 2010 by Raks Anand 71 Comments / Jump to Recipe

    Rava kesari recipe, learn how to make south Indian style rava kesari with tips and tricks to make it without lumps, step by step pictures for beginners.

    rava kesari recipe
    Kesari recipe

    Kesari is the easiest sweet, that can be prepared in a jiffy, a popular delicious dish made with ease for special occasions and sweet cravings.

    This is the basic kesari recipe apart from other kesari variations like milk kesari recipe, Pineapple kesari recipe, fruit kesari recipe and mango kesari recipe I have posted in my blog

    Jump to:
    • Difficulty
    • 💭Story
    • 👩🏽‍🍳 Avoiding lumps
    • ⭐ Why this works
    • 🍚 Semolina
    • 📖 Variations
    • 💬 My notes
    • 📋 Right stage
    • Recipe card
    • 📸 Step by step photos
    • Add sugar

    Difficulty

    For me luckily I have not struggled much to learn making it. That is because I have seen mom and mom in law make it many a times.

    But I have seen many who run into trouble or don’t get it right. The major trouble you get when making is getting lumps.

    For me, I love making sweets, I love each and every process we do and I enjoy the out come. It's every time like how a person feels the success.

    (Well let's not be too greedy, let me stop here🤓,when I run into trouble and don’t get it right, I will feel very low in confidence and feel as if I am zero in cooking, that’s a different story😷).

    But if you ask my hubby, he always tells a short story in the topic kesari.

    💭Story

    He loves kesari more than me or may be, before falling in love with me, he fell in love with it and still he has an affair. 

    When he was in his teens, whenever my MIL leaves to market or shopping leaving him behind at home, before she comes back, he used to make rava kesari.

    Enjoy it and cleans everything and keep so that she doesn't get any doubt, at least at first glance.

    But every time he wonders how amma’s kesari is so colourful and his is ugly in colour😝 (without knowing that there is a thing known as food colour to make it colourful 😆).

    And yes now he makes a perfect kesari, if I want him to make! Ok let me move on to how I make Kesari.

    👩🏽‍🍳 Avoiding lumps

    There are two stages in the process where there are chances to get lumps.

    Firstly, while adding rava to boiling water and secondly, while adding sugar to cooked rava.

    I have shared the things I noted carefully in this post in detail, please continue reading patiently once to learn the tips and tricks.

    • Roast well - This is the first and foremost thing you should do for avoiding the lumps. But take care not to change it's color. Do it in medium or low heat and keep stirring to avoid color changing.
    • Use good quantity of ghee - Don't skimp on the ghee amount. Go ahead and add the required amount and reduce the serving size if you feel guilty.
    • Stirring - While adding water as well as sugar, keep stirring as you slowly add it. These two are important stages for avoiding lumps.
    rava kesari recipe
    Rava kesari, Sooji kesari

    ⭐ Why this works

    I have made this recipe all my life and this is the perfect way to make kesari.

    • Adding all the ghee in roasting stage itself helps forming no lumps as well as even roasting, there by perfect texture!
    • Adding boiling water instead of adding roasted rava to boiling water, helps in quick results.
    • Also you can do the one pot method, no roasting and transferring the rava/ sooji. Instead, boil water side by side and add to roasted rava.

    🍚 Semolina

    There are quite a few rava (semolina) varieties such as roasted, unroasted, double roasted, bombay rava etc.

    Trust me, everything works perfectly in this recipe. But never skip the roasting step irrespective of it's variety (roasted too, just reduce the roasting time)

    📖 Variations

    • Instead of water, you can mix water and milk in equal proportions and make it rich. Please note, the cooking time may be more as we are using milk.
    • Swap orange food color with yellow too. Try to use natural food color (plant based) if possible.
    • Equal amount of ghee and oil can be used instead of fully using ghee. This is actually the secret they follow in kalyana veetu kesaris/ functions by thavasu pillais. Using oil helps the texture to be soft rather than solidified ones. You can use neutral smelling oil like sunflower oil or vegetable oil.
    • Kesari bath variation - Use more water, that is here it is 1:3, for kesari bath, use 1:5! But also increase ghee quantity (double) as otherwise the texture will be like paste.
    • I have not added raisins, you can sure add if you like it.

    💬 My notes

    • If the rava is not cooked properly before adding sugar, then the kesari will be chewy or turn hard. So make sure to cook in low flame until soft before adding sugar.
    • Adding sugar as such in one go without stirring and later stirring results in forming lumps. Never leave it with out stirring if you add sugar. Add little by little in sprinkled way as you mix in with the cooked kesari by continuously stirring.
    • Even while adding water, make sure to mix.

    📋 Right stage

    When will you know the kesari is done? As you keep stirring after adding sugar, it will turn non sticky with the pan, and you will probably see a short string formed while stirring. This is the right stage.

    For firm kesari, this water quantity is enough. For softer kesari, use more water. But make sure to use more ghee, otherwise the kesari will eventually turn gummy.

    For best results, use homemade ghee as it will give you light feel in your tummy as well as best flavor.

    Recipe card

    rava kesari recipe
    Print Pin
    4.88 from 33 votes

    Rava kesari recipe

    Rava kesari recipe, learn how to make south Indian sweet rava kesari with tips and tricks to make it without lumps, step by step pictures.
    Course Sweets
    Cuisine Indian
    Prep Time 5 minutes
    Cook Time 30 minutes
    Servings 20 pieces
    Cup measurements

    Ingredients

    • ½ cup Rava/ sooji/ semolina
    • 1 cup Sugar
    • 1 & ½ cups Water
    • ¼ cup Ghee
    • 1 cardamom powdered
    • 8 Cashews
    • 1 pinch Kesari colour
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Heat a pan, add ghee and roast the cashews in medium flame. Once golden and crisp, drain from ghee and set aside.
    • In the same ghee, add rava.
    • Fry in medium flame, with constant stirring until a nice aroma comes (the rava will start turning golden brown here and there).
    • Transfer the mixture to a plate and set aside.
    • Add water to the pan and bring to boil. Add the fried rava little by little to the boiling water and keep stirring simultaneously.
    • Eventually, you can also side by side boil measured water needed for the recipe and add it to the roasted rava saving the transfer.
    • Take care no lumps are formed, keep in medium flame and stir well.
    • Keep in low flame and cook covered for 4 minutes or until the rava gets cooked well.
    • Add sugar, kesari colour (please use natural food colour) and keep the flame in medium and stir well.
    • Some times, when you add sugar and mix, immediately you may find very few lumps or tiny lumps, but don't panic, stir well in a way to mash those lumps, it gets mashed well in the heat.
    • Stir in medium flame for 4 minutes or still the kesari forms as a whole mass (doesn't stick to the pan at all).
    • Add ghee fried cashews, cardamom powder to this if desired.
    • Optional : Grease a plate with ghee and spread the kesari in it and after cooling down, cut out as diamonds with a knife.

    Notes

    • Make sure to roast in low flame or medium flame without changing colour.
    • Stir briskly to avoid lumps. In case lumps are formed, mash it immediately with ladle. 
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    📸 Step by step photos

    1. Heat a pan, add ghee and roast the cashews in medium flame. Once golden and crisp, drain from ghee and set aside.

    Measure and boil water side by side for making it one pot instead of transferring the rava after roasting. (Skip step 4 & 5)

    2. In the same ghee, add rava.

    roasting sooji

    3. Fry in medium flame, with constant stirring until a nice aroma comes (the rava will just start turning golden brown).

    4. Transfer the mixture to a plate and set aside.

    5. Add water to the pan and bring to boil.

    6. Slowly add fried rava to the boiling water and keep stirring simultaneously. (If you have boiling water ready in other stove, add that to rava stirring carefully)

    cooking

    7. Eventually, you can also side by side boil measured water needed for the recipe and add it to the roasted rava saving the transfer.

    8. Take care no lumps are formed, keep in medium flame and stir well.

    9. Keep in low flame and cook covered for 4 minutes.

    cooking covered

    10. Rava should be cooked soft.

    cooked soft and fluffy

    Add sugar

    11. Add the sugar, as you keep stirring.

    adding sugar to cooked sooji

    12. In goes Kesari colour (please use natural food colour) and keep the flame in medium and stir well.

    Add colour stir well

    13. When you add sugar and mix, immediately you may find few lumps. Don't panic, stir well in a way to mash those lumps gets mashed well.

    Rava kesari step 4 - Stir well

    14. Stir in medium flame for 4 minutes.

    sooji kesari

    15. Let the kesari forms as a whole mass (doesn't stick to the pan at all).

    stage

    16. Add ghee fried cashews, cardamom powder to this if desired. (Fry cashews in a tablespoon of ghee we reserved before)

    17. Optional : Grease a plate with ghee and spread the kesari in it and level.

    level

    18. After cooling down,draw as diamonds with a knife.

    cut into diamonds

    So how do you like it, scooped rava kesari or the cut into pieces? 🙂

    kesari recipe
    Rava kesari recipe

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Shanthi

      August 23, 2010 at 7:19 am

      Love the kesari cut into diamond shape. Well presented as ever.

      Reply
    2. Premalatha Aravindhan

      August 23, 2010 at 7:28 am

      kesari luks perfect,really delicious...

      Reply
    3. Prathibha

      August 23, 2010 at 7:42 am

      Hmmm...yummy kesari.....Nice cute diamonds.....I like to make it more of halwa kind by adding milk,condensed milk n all..

      Reply
    4. Priya

      August 23, 2010 at 8:03 am

      Loved the story behind ur hubby's kesari..Our all time favourite..feel like grabbing some kesari diamonds now..

      Reply
    5. Priti

      August 23, 2010 at 9:16 am

      Looks so perfect am feeling hungry dear and thanks for the wonderful entry :)...and for the next His Cooking Event ..shall ask him to make this? 😉

      Reply
    6. RAKS KITCHEN

      August 23, 2010 at 9:20 am

      Definitely yes,in that name I can enjoy the kesari 😉

      Reply
    7. jeyashrisuresh

      August 23, 2010 at 10:18 am

      perfect kesari.my mom too cut it into diamonds like this, but i never attempted because of lack of patience. My fav one too.nice clicks

      Reply
    8. notyet100

      August 23, 2010 at 11:30 am

      halwa looks delicious

      Reply
    9. lata raja

      August 23, 2010 at 1:41 pm

      All time easy sweet to make and mess up too:) These look perfectly done and a nice tip about using up all the ghee while frying the rawa only.

      Reply
    10. Pavithra

      August 23, 2010 at 1:45 pm

      Looks too good and perfect Raji.. Yah as u said its a jiffy sweet... the photo in the banana leaf plate is beautiful dear. The tips are great too.

      Reply
    11. G.Pavani

      August 23, 2010 at 1:50 pm

      itlooks yummy n every ones favt

      Reply
    12. தேனம்மை லெக்ஷ்மணன்

      August 23, 2010 at 1:53 pm

      the presentation n method is good. yammy ..

      Reply
    13. Suja Sugathan

      August 23, 2010 at 2:40 pm

      Lovely lovely..beautiful presentation too.

      Reply
    14. Pavithra Srihari

      August 23, 2010 at 2:44 pm

      superaa irukku da... not even in my sweetest dreams i would have thought of making it like a burfi..beautiful it looks .. super colorful

      Reply
    15. Swathi

      August 23, 2010 at 2:46 pm

      I love the story behind your wondrful rava keasari. Looks delicious Raji

      Reply
    16. Sangi

      August 23, 2010 at 2:52 pm

      Kesari luks perfect n lovely presentation
      tnx 4 stopping by Raji

      Reply
    17. Deepa G Joshi

      August 23, 2010 at 3:39 pm

      this looks so yummmyy..loved the clicks..they are so tempting..

      Reply
    18. meeso

      August 23, 2010 at 7:13 pm

      Perfect looking sweet... love the step-by-step pictures!

      Reply
    19. swapna

      August 23, 2010 at 8:06 pm

      Looks Delicious...love the step by step pics!!

      Reply
    20. Satya

      August 23, 2010 at 8:10 pm

      rava kesari looks awesome ...

      Satya
      http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

      Reply
    21. kothiyavunu.com

      August 23, 2010 at 8:58 pm

      Woww wat a droolworthy rava kesari, tickling my tongue..

      Reply
    22. Mahi

      August 24, 2010 at 12:58 am

      Lovely story and a colourful kesari!yummmmm!

      Reply
    23. Sharmilee! :)

      August 24, 2010 at 2:58 am

      Wow looks so perfect and yummy, I luv it too!

      Reply
    24. Chitra

      August 24, 2010 at 5:38 am

      Tat looks mouthwatering and feel like grabbing it from the screen 😉
      nice entry !!

      Reply
    25. Sushma Mallya

      August 24, 2010 at 7:32 am

      Perfectly done and what a lovely colour too....

      Reply
    26. Anonymous

      August 24, 2010 at 1:08 pm

      Made these with laptop next to the stove and following your instructions, came out great. Thanks a ton 🙂

      Reply
    27. lissie

      August 24, 2010 at 1:42 pm

      Rava Kesari looks perfect and yummy! my favorite sweet...

      Reply
    28. Vanamala Hebbar

      August 24, 2010 at 5:08 pm

      Rava Kesari looks nice..

      Reply
    29. Mano Saminathan

      August 25, 2010 at 6:57 pm

      Superb and colourful rava Kesari!

      Reply
    30. Lavi

      August 26, 2010 at 2:13 am

      kesari ivlo azhaga naan parthathea illa..i will use this idea of cutting kesari into bars, for serving to guests.

      Reply
    31. RAKS KITCHEN

      August 26, 2010 at 3:15 am

      Thank you so so so much for trying and the prompt feed back Lakshmi,hope you enjoyed it.

      Reply
    32. Sandhya Hariharan

      August 26, 2010 at 8:25 pm

      heyy raks... didnt realise when u moved to ur own domain... congrats...
      the garlic buns are soo cute.. i was thinking of such savoury buns yesterday.. glad to see it in ur space....

      Reply
    33. Hamaree Rasoi

      August 27, 2010 at 3:08 am

      Wow !! feel like grabbing some from the screen....Liked the diamond shapes..I'm always late here....so following you now ;-p
      Deepa
      Hamaree Rasoi

      Reply
    34. Bharathy

      August 28, 2010 at 7:15 am

      Pretty pretty post!!!Believe me I still flaw with rava kesari :)..so...as always...bookmarking 😀

      Reply
    35. Dr.Sameena Prathap

      August 29, 2010 at 6:45 am

      Hi,

      great and lovely presentation...i love kesari...very easy to make...i make it often!!!

      [email protected]://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com

      Reply
    36. xyz

      September 29, 2011 at 7:32 pm

      Kindly tell me the quantity of RA a the recipe says 1/2 ...and sugar is 3/4 which is more than RA a....so had a doubt

      Reply
    37. RAKS KITCHEN

      September 30, 2011 at 2:27 am

      yes xyz, it is 3/4 to 1 cup. Its sur emore than rava quantity. my mom makes the ratio remember in a easy way : rava:sugar = 1:2 Sometimes I like it bit less, so i wrote the recipe as 3/4 to 1 cup 🙂 Do try the ratio,it will definitely come out perfect!!

      Reply
    38. RENU

      October 05, 2011 at 2:56 am

      5 stars
      hi
      superb.....with a nice color............i tried this....it came out delicious!!!u r the best!!.....thanks so much.

      Reply
    39. Amy

      October 11, 2011 at 10:39 am

      First time here & now I want to try this..you have explained it clearly.Normally I am not very good in cooking sweets....But I want to try this,book marked,will let you know the out come once prepared.....

      Reply
    40. sudha

      February 08, 2012 at 12:45 am

      5 stars
      Hi, I tried this recipe today and was surprised at the outcome. I have tried Kesari many a times earlier and never it tasted so good..And I must say you have a lovely blog...Have infact tried many other recipes and they all are a hit. Thanks and keep blogging.

      Reply
    41. Mokshaa

      May 09, 2012 at 2:15 pm

      5 stars
      Thankyou for the receipe... It turned out fantastic. Great work.

      Reply
    42. Soumya

      July 27, 2012 at 1:45 am

      Hi Raks...

      Thanks for recipe...b/w where did you buy the tray from. Looks good.

      Reply
    43. RAKS KITCHEN

      July 27, 2012 at 1:50 am

      Soumya, its a baking tray. I bought in Singapore some sale...

      Reply
    44. Anuradha

      July 28, 2012 at 2:31 pm

      5 stars
      Hi Raks,made this and it was yummy..thanks for the perfect recipe..

      Reply
    45. Rumana Ambrin

      January 25, 2013 at 1:48 pm

      Awesome looking sweet...

      Reply
    46. athulya rs

      July 07, 2014 at 7:05 am

      can you explain the measurement half cup etc.i cnt understand

      Reply
    47. Raks anand

      July 07, 2014 at 7:36 am

      A cup that measures 120 ml of liquid

      Reply
    48. asha nair

      July 10, 2014 at 12:31 am

      5 stars
      Thnkuu:) i tried itt yummy

      Reply
    49. Dill Shani

      August 02, 2014 at 1:26 pm

      4 stars
      Done. Yummi Yummi kesari

      Reply
    50. ekta

      October 21, 2014 at 12:55 am

      Which semolina do we use for this recipe ??? Coarse or fine ???

      Reply
    51. Raks anand

      October 21, 2014 at 1:03 am

      Coarse works best. Caana be done with fine too, but more it will be like halwa

      Reply
    52. Smitha

      February 04, 2015 at 6:36 am

      5 stars
      Came out really good .. Thank I so much for the recipe

      Reply
    53. Niyatha Krishnan

      October 22, 2015 at 6:33 am

      5 stars
      Tried it just now......turned out really well. Thanks

      Reply
    54. Unknown

      November 11, 2015 at 1:44 pm

      4 stars
      Made kesari with ur recipe. It came out well both texture n taste. Thanks for the recipe. I am surely going to try out your other recipes. Bye

      Reply
    55. Ilana Bar-Hai

      November 11, 2015 at 9:56 am

      Hello from Israel. I made this today for helping some Indian friends who are visiting, celebrate Diwali. I have never tasted it before but I think it came out just right. I made one with milk and one without.. I took photos as well. Happy Diwali to you and thanks.

      Reply
    56. Unknown

      April 20, 2017 at 1:34 am

      Can v make kesari with idli rava?? Thanks in advance

      Reply
    57. Raks anand

      April 20, 2017 at 2:34 am

      Taste would be totaly different and taste like kalkandu pongal 🙂

      Reply
    58. Valerie Ebau

      May 09, 2017 at 12:56 am

      Hi..my kesari turn out to be too soft till I cannot cut into nice shape. It doesn't hold. Is there anything I can do? Shall I put it on the pan and stir it again?

      Reply
    59. Raks anand

      May 09, 2017 at 7:35 am

      Sorry for my late response. Yes you can stir again in case it happens again. Also it gets slightly thicker when gets cooled.

      Reply
    60. Meeeeee

      July 05, 2017 at 8:11 am

      5 stars
      Tried this couple of times, and it turned out awesome 🙂 Gonna try fruit kesari very soon..

      Reply
    61. Unknown

      August 12, 2017 at 1:16 am

      Do we use roasted rava for this or directly from the pack?

      Reply
    62. Raks anand

      August 12, 2017 at 1:41 am

      We are roasting in step one. So which ever rava, better to roast in ghee as first step.

      Reply
    63. saranya kamal

      January 31, 2018 at 7:16 am

      Water 1:3 or 1:4 ratio

      Reply
    64. Kamala Sekaran

      February 23, 2018 at 11:24 am

      5 stars
      Rava kesari was super easy to make and tasted awesome. I used 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup water.

      Reply
    65. Pradhiba Kanthish

      April 18, 2018 at 6:29 am

      5 stars
      Thank u Raks. Got it very nice. Thank u so much for the recipe.

      Reply
    66. Unknown

      April 18, 2018 at 6:29 am

      4 stars
      Thank you Raks. Got it very nice. Thank u so much for the recipe.

      Reply
    67. Raks Kitchen

      April 18, 2018 at 6:46 am

      Thank you Pradhiba

      Reply
    68. Gayatri

      November 23, 2019 at 9:29 pm

      Could you please recommend the brand for natural food colour

      Reply
      • Raks Anand

        November 24, 2019 at 9:06 am

        Sprig, Nature tree, Hoppers can be found online in Amazon

        Reply
    69. Prajin

      September 29, 2020 at 3:24 pm

      Wow super really nice

      Reply
    70. lagina

      June 03, 2021 at 10:59 pm

      thank u akki ...for ur great recipe...................................

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Rajeswari Vijayanand! I am the person behind Rakskitchen, sharing recipes with pictures & videos.

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