Fruit Kesari made with assorted fruits and semolina (rava) is a very simple and delicious dessert perfect for any festival or occasion. It is quick and easy to make and is ready in under 30 minutes.
My boys love kesari and I quite often make rava kesari at home. Pineapple kesari also known as the pineapple pudding is very famous in weddings and I have eaten them quite often. I love the texture of this particular kind of kesari as they are not a solid mass and have a very smooth consistency.
When thinking of what to make for F, this was the first choice of recipe that came to my mind and I stuck to it. Instead of just using pineapple, I decided to make it as a mixed fruits kesari. I used all the fruits that I had in hand.
I have in the mixture - apple, pineapple, banana and orange. Also, I got little carried away and used cranberries in the kesari and it was a good decision. We loved the flavor of the tart and sour cranberries along with the sweetness from the other fruits. You could skip the cranberries and use raisins.
I also learned a few tricks when learning to make this fruit kesari. Adding oil along with ghee when making the kesari allows the kesari to have a smoother consistency rather than becoming hard when it cools down. I have added only 2 tablespoon of oil, but you could add equal quantities of oil and ghee when making the kesari.
Also, in the past, I have always added the food coloring to the rava mixture when it cooking and often have uneven distribution of the color. I learned that the food coloring if added to the boiling water and then added to the rava distributes the color evenly. These are two new things I did when making the kesari and will be following it from now on.
My other recipes in the series
A - Athirasam
B - Badam Burfi
E - Ellu Urundai
Preparation time – 10 minutes
Cooking time – 30 minutes
Difficulty level -easy
Ingredients to make Fruit kesari – serves 6
- Rava / sooji – 1 cup (I used fine)
- Sugar – 2 cups + 2 tbsp
- Nei / ghee - 6 tablespoon + 1 tbsp
- Oil – 2 tbsp
- Mixed fruits – 1 ½ cup (finely chopped – I used apple, pineapple, orange and banana)
- Cashew nut – 3 tbsp
- Cranberries (can use raisins) – 2 tbsp
- Food coloring – a pinch
- Water – 2 ½ cups
Procedure to make Fruit kesari
- Chop all the fruits and place them in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoon of sugar to it and mix it well. Leave it aside for about 15 minutes. This helps in removing the tartness from the fruits (if any) and also marinates them in sugar.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pan and add the marinated fruits. Give it a quick stir and fry in the ghee for about 2-3 minutes. This enhances the flavor of the fruits.
- Remove the fruits back into the bowl and in the same pan, heat the remaining ghee and oil. Oil helps in maintaining the consistency of the kesari preventing it from becoming a solid mass when cooled.
- Add the cashews and cranberries and fry them until light golden. You could use raisins instead of cranberries.
- To the same pan, add the rava and roast them until aromatic and lightly golden. Simultaneously, boil 2 ½ cups of water to rolling boil. Add the food coloring to the water.
- Once the rava has roasted, slowly add the boiling water to the rava and mix well. Be careful as the mixture will sputter all over. Let the rava cook in low flame for 2-3 minutes until very soft. If using fine rava, it will cook very soon. Larger rava might take a little longer to cook. Cover the pan to ensure that the rava cooks very well.
- At this stage add the fruits and mix.
- Now add the sugar and stir. The mixture will become loose after adding the sugar, but will thicken as we cook.
- Cook for about 5 minutes and then turn off the flame. Remove the kesari when it is still has a loose consistency as it will harden as it cools.
- The kesari will remain good in room temperature for couple of days and a week if refrigerated.
Recipe
Fruit KesariI | Mixed Fruit Sheera
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rava / sooji I used fine
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp Sugar
- 6 + 1 tablespoon Nei / ghee
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 1 ½ cup Mixed fruits finely chopped – I used apple, pineapple, orange and banana
- 3 tablespoon Cashew nut
- 2 tbsp Cranberries can use raisins
- A pinch Food coloring
- 2 ½ cups Water
- Fruit Kesari
Instructions
- Chop all the fruits and place them in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoon of sugar to it and mix it well. Leave it aside for about 15 minutes. This helps in removing the tartness from the fruits (if any) and also marinates them in sugar.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pan and add the marinated fruits. Give it a quick stir and fry in the ghee for about 2-3 minutes. This enhances the flavor of the fruits.
- Remove the fruits back into the bowl and in the same pan, heat the remaining ghee and oil. Oil helps in maintaining the consistency of the kesari preventing it from becoming a solid mass when cooled.
- Add the cashews and cranberries and fry them until light golden. You could use raisins instead of cranberries.
- To the same pan, add the rava and roast them until aromatic and lightly golden. Simultaneously, boil 2 ½ cups of water to rolling boil. Add the food coloring to the water.
- Once the rava has roasted, slowly add the boiling water to the rava and mix well. Be careful as the mixture will sputter all over. Let the rava cook in low flame for 2-3 minutes until very soft. If using fine rava, it will cook very soon. Larger rava might take a little longer to cook. Cover the pan to ensure that the rava cooks very well.
- At this stage add the fruits and mix.
- Now add the sugar and stir. The mixture will become loose after adding the sugar, but will thicken as we cook.
- Cook for about 5 minutes and then turn off the flame. Remove the kesari when it is still has a loose consistency as it will harden as it cools.
- The kesari will remain good in room temperature for couple of days and a week if refrigerated.
Mayuri Patel says
Such a delicious looking dessert with a variety of fresh fruits added to it. Good tip of using oil so that the kesari does not become solid and retains its texture.