This rice kesari bath recipe would have been a great post for Navaratri, if I had posted it in the beginning that is the first day itself. But you know me right?? my list of Diwali recipes is little overwhelming and I couldn’t tweak this visually appealing rice in between.
Saffron strands are new thing in my life, and here is the thing about it – you don’t need much of it to give your food a really strong and divine flavor. An interesting fact about saffron strands is the pleasant color that gets infused to the food in which it is in. Like this apple kesari. It’s just so very aromatic and appealing.
So with all this new saffron strands feeling, rice kesari bath came in to being. Rice is roasted in ghee for a while and then cooked to perfection in simmer till it is done like soft and pulpy. Continued cooking with generous sugar and ghee, makes the rice grains look glossy and luscious. It is then the saffron strand inclusion for attractive color and ghee fried cashews plus raisins for nice crunch in the dessert.
Posting rice kesari bath in this space is my way of seeking blessings from Goddess for good health and prosperity.
Rice Kesari Bath Recipe | Navaratri Recipes 2015
Ingredients
- Raw rice- 1/4 cup
- Sugar- 1/4 cup
- Ghee- 1/4 cup
- Boiled warm milk- 2 tsp
- Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
- Saffron strands- 1/2 tsp
- Cashews and raisins- Handful
Instructions
Preparation
- Soak saffron strands in warm milk for about 10 minutes. Heat a cooking pan with a tsp of ghee and fry cashews followed by raisins. Transfer them to a bowl.
Method
- Add some more ghee to the same cooking pan and heat it in medium flame. As the ghee starts melting, include washed, drained rice to it. Fry it with continuous stirring for 5 minutes. Add around 1.5 cups of water and cook till the rice is cooked soft.
- When the rice is all done, add sugar to it. Stir till the sugar dissolves completely and mixture becomes thin. Add rest of the ghee too and cook till the mixture thickens a bit.
- Finally add milk which has saffron strands soaked in it, ghee fried dry fruits and cardamom powder. Combine everything well and cook till the rice kesari bath oozes ghee and doesn't stick to pan any more.
- Divine tasting rice kesari bath is ready to offer on the eve of Navaratri.
Notes
- Do not compromise with quantity of sugar and ghee which directly affects the texture and taste of kesari bath.
- You can consider using any variety of rice like jeera rice or Basmati or regular sona masori.
- The rice should be cooked to very soft, easy mash-able form. If your rice variety needs additional water to get cooked, go ahead and add it. For me 1.5 cup of water was enough.
- Once you add sugar, the rice grains doesn't cook and soften. So make sure it is cooked well before that.
- The color of the rice kesari bath depends on amount of saffron strands. Do not add too much saffron which may turn the taste towards bitter.
this is totally new to me.. looks yum!