Gokulashtami / Sri Krishna Jayanthi falls on 5th September this year. Seedai, murukku and thattai are some of the traditional snacks prepared for this festival. The neivedhyam (offerings) will be incomplete without Lord Krishna's favorites - aval (flattened rice) and butter. Mostly we make vella aval, but apart from that you can make payasam, laddu or kesari with aval/poha.
Kesari is mostly prepared with rava/semolina. This aval kesari is quite similar to rava kesari. I just followed my rava kesari recipe and made few changes to make this kesari. If you are a working women or a beginner cook, this aval kesari is a really easy recipe and takes very less time too. Try this easy sweet for gokulashtami this year.
AVAL KESARI RECIPE
{ South Indian dessert with flattened rice, sugar, cardamon and ghee }Serves 2
Ingredients:
½ cup aval / poha / flattened rice
1 cup water
½ cup sugar
3 tbsp ghee
¼ tsp cardamom powder
5-6 cashews, broken
5-6 raisins
Pinch of kesari color or orange food color
Method:
1. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a non stick pan and fry the cashews till golden. Set aside. Add the raisins to the same pan and fry till they puff up. Set aside.
2. In the same pan, add 1 tsp ghee and add the aval. Fry in a low-medium heat until it turns light golden color. Cool and grind to a coarse powder.
3. Add water to the pan and bring to boil. Add the aval slowly and keep stirring in a medium heat until the aval is cooked. Make sure no lumps are formed.
4. Once the aval is cooked well, add the sugar, kesari color and rest of ghee. The mixture will start to loosen up now. Make sure no lumps are formed.
5. Cook stirring continuously until it starts to thicken and starts leaving the sides of the pan. Add cardamom powder and garnish with fried cashew and raisins.
Notes and Tips
- The aval/poha should be ground to a rava/semolina like consistency.
- Make sure the aval is cooked well before adding sugar.
