Sheera

In the initial days of full fledged cooking I used to panic when we would have  guests over for lunch or dinner. I knew I could manage with the starters or main course but Desserts was never my forte! I would take the easy option out by either serving Ice cream or fruit salad and sometimes tinned Gulab jamun too! Slowly I started taking recipes from my mom-in-law and mom and tried them one by one. I was confident of making jaggery based payasams but not simple sheera or  burfi's. My hubby could churn out better Sheera than I could. Back then, I was not much of a sweet person. But now I am transformed. Anything sweet catches my attention first (Blame it on the harmonal changes after pregnancy). I try very hard not to look at the desserts section while dining out as it easily tempts me. If not for the pounds that are lazily lying around my waist I would have tried n number of recipes that I have bookmarked and drooled over from other blogs! I  prefer to make desserts when we have guests over or for potlucks where I can exercise portion control and also satisfy my sweet tooth!
This humble sheera has finally made it to my blog. My MIL is pro at making this. She gets the perfect upma or sheera whenever she makes them. I on the other hand am always terrified dealing with Sooji. I usually skimp out on the ghee to be used and thus they don't come out perfect like her's. But with this recipe I have gained confidence. I normally prefer to have warm sheera in a bowl than having it poured into greased plates and then cut. Saves the trouble of washing more vessels! But having them cut beautifully like this helps in easier serving.

Here is what's needed:
1 cup Rava
1 cup Sugar
2 cups water
3-4 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp each of broken cashew nuts and raisins
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
a generous pinch of saffron

Procedure:
1) Heat the water in a separate pot until it comes to good boil. Keep covered until the time of use. 
Heat a tbsp of ghee in a wide bottom pan and fry the cashew nuts until golden. Drain and keep aside and add the raisins. Fry them until they fluff up, drain and keep aside.
2) In the same pan add the remaining ghee and fry the rava. The rava has to be fried well by stirring often so that it does not stick to the bottom until the colour changes and you get a nice aroma.
3) Add the saffron to boiled water. Turn the flame of kadai to low and pour the saffron water into it. Keep stirring as the mixture tends to bubble. If the rava has been fried well then it will not turn lumpy. Keep stirring until the rava is cooked and the water has been absorbed.
4) Add sugar. At this stage the mixture will become watery again as the sugar melts. Keep stirring until the mixture comes together to form a single mass. Add in the cardamom powder and the roasted cashews and raisins. Stir for a minute and switch off.
5) You can scoop out and serve in individual bowls or if you desire to shape them then grease a wide thali or baking tray. Spread the mixture evenly and let it cool for few mins. Cut into desired shapes and serve.

Notes:
1) Even though I used 1:1 ratio of sugar and rava, My halwa turned out just right and not very sweet.
2) My MIL adds a clove in hot ghee before frying the rava. It gives a completely different aroma.
3) I love the sheera made out of bansi rava that is coarse than sooji rava