Mango kesari is my summer-festival showpiece — classic rava kesari turned silky and floral with ripe mango purée. I roast the semolina in ghee until it’s pale gold and smells nutty; raw rava is the one mistake that no amount of mango can hide.
The sugar goes in only after the rava is fully cooked — add it early and the grains never soften properly. I fold the ghee in gradually until the halwa turns glossy and starts leaving the sides of the kadai, then finish with cardamom and crisp fried cashews.
Pairs well with: Vegetable Halwa and Sweet Potato Halwa.
Mango Kesari Recipe
Mango Kesari
Mango Kesari is a rich, fruity semolina sweet made by cooking roasted rawa in mango purée and sugar until thick, then finishing with ghee, cardamom, and golden cashews.
6
servings5
minutes15
minutesIngredients
Fully ripen mango – 1
Rawa – 1 cup
Sugar – 1 and 1/2 cup
Ghee – 3 tablespoons
Cashews- few
Cardamom powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Directions
- Peel the skin from the mango and cut it into medium size pieces. Put it in a mixie jar and grind it into a fine purée. The purée should be one to one and half cup.
- In a thick bottom kadai melt a teaspoon of ghee and fry the cashews until light brown. Remove and keep aside.
- Same kadai add one more teaspoon of ghee and fry the rawa till you get nice aroma. Remove and keep it aside.
- Using the same kadai add 3 cups of water and bring to boil. When it starts boiling, reduce the flame and add the mango purée. Stir well.
- Add fried rawa and stir continuously till the rawa is cooked and blends well the purée.
- Add sugar and once again starts stirring until the sugar melts and it becomes thick.
- Add ghee little by little till the Kesari leaves the sides of the kadai and not sticking to the kadai.
- Finally add cardamom powder and fried cashews and mix everything well and transfer to a greased bowl.
Notes
- For this recipe, I used Banganapalli mango which is fibre free and has creamy pulp.
- Any fibreless, sweet mango works here; avoid sour varieties, which fight the ghee and cardamom.
- Roast the rava well in ghee before adding liquid; under-roasted semolina tastes pasty.
- Add sugar only after the rava has cooked through, or the grains stay hard.
- Press into a greased bowl and chill for clean slices, or serve warm straight from the kadai.