Aval Kesari / Poha Halwa

Hello friends! I've been away from blogging after little K arrived and life has been really busy yet sweet :-) Nevertheless, with a little help around, I hope I can manage to keep my passion for cooking alive and continue to dish out new stuff that everyone enjoys!

Yesterday, I made a really quick Kesari with Aval (Rice flakes) and it turned out awesome!! Rawa Kesari aka Sooji Halwa is quite a popular sweet and this variation uses Aval in place of Rawa/ Sooji and reduces the cooking time drastically as well as makes the sweet practically foolproof. With the traditional Kesari, one has to take care to ensure there are no lumps while the rawa gets cooked and once there ARE lumps(which is usually the case), it's a tiring job to mash them and create a uniform texture.

Aval Kesari / Poha Halwa

Yield - 2 to 3 persons

Time - 15 minutes end-to-end

Ingredient List -

Aval / Poha/ Rice flakes- 1 and 1/4 cups
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Boiling Water - Start with 1/2 cup and add as you go
Ghee - 3 to 4 tbsp
Cashewnuts - 10 nos.
Food color (orange) - a pinch or two
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Recipe -

• Roast the cashewnuts with a tbsp of hot ghee on a pan. Set the roasted nuts aside but let the remaining ghee stay on the pan.
• Transfer the measured Aval into the pan with ghee (add some ghee if there's nil left after roasting cashews) and fry them for a short while.
• When all the aval flakes are covered with ghee (and not dry), pour boiling water (just microwave water for a minute) into the pan.
• The Rice flakes/ Aval starts cooking. When all the water is absorbed and the aval doesn't seem fully cooked yet, add some more water (boiling). Reduce flame to low.
• When its 3/4th done, add the measured sugar. As the sugar melts, there is more liquid in the pan. Add a pinch of food color and cardamom powder. 
• Let the Kesari get cooked well and come together. You may add the remaining ghee at this stage if the sweet starts sticking to the bottom of the pan. I used a non-stick pan and I didn't have to add anymore ghee.
• Finally, mix in the ghee-roasted cashewnuts! 

Enjoy :-) If you're a fan of Aval, do check out Aval Payasam / Kheer made with Poha(Rice flakes).