Rava Kesari – easy, fail-proof in a pressure cooker!

Rava Kesari is that typical south indian sweet you grow up with so you think it is boring and usual, but years later on a festive day, you make some and eat with a little spoon and BOOM it takes you back to your childhood! Every state in India has its variations of this semolina halwa but most use similar ingredients – semolina/rava, sugar, ghee, flavourings like cardamom and saffron, nuts and raisins.

Rava Kesari is a really popular south Indian sweet and has plenty of variations. My personal favourite is a mixed fruits kesari with pineapple, apple and grapes. I use the same base recipe for it too. Trust me when I say it, this base recipe is the ONLY one you need to make a good rava kesari.

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This is a one pot recipe and it requires a pressure cooker!

YES, just like my kitchen famous ( ok and a bit on IG too) Kharabath, this also uses a pressure cooker only! That means limited stirring and lump free kesari. The active cooking time is also less than ten minutes.

There are very few things that will amaze you as much as opening a cooker and seeing perfectly cooked kesari with no lumps! I hope you try it to experience it once.

How does this recipe work?

It works because the cooker is a sealed container that cooks the rava in ‘retained heat’. For this recipe to work perfectly – the rava has to be hot and the water you are adding has to be hot too. The resting time of 20 minutes ‘cooks’ the rava and vegetables in the heat that is trapped into the cooker.

Scaling this recipe

For the measure of 1/2 cup rava, a 2L or the smallest you have works best. This recipe will also work in a 3L cooker. If you are using a larger pressure cooker than that, I recommend you double the recipe. 

The ratio of rava:sugar: water is 1:2:3. The amount of ghee used is to your preference, however I highly recommend keeping it to half of rava. With this ratio, you can make as much as 5 cups of rava or as little as 1/4 cup of rava. 

I have personally tried this recipe with a maximum of 2 cups rava in a 5L cooker and 1/4 cup rava in a 2L cooker and can confirm both works!

Where is this recipe/technique from?

This recipe and this technique of cooking in retained heat was first shared in 2013 by Chitvish in her Facebook page. She based it on her knowledge of chemistry ( to use retained heat) and her years of cooking knowledge. I have seen numerous blogs, forums using the idea and recipe ( the actual ratios) with no mention to her post, so I feel happy to be responsible and give credit to her.

I made rava kesari using this technique for the first time in October 2014 for Diwali. I was so amazed at how easy it was. Mind you, I was making kesari for the very first time!

Step by Step Instructions to make Rava Kesari in a pressure cooker

To a small cooker, add 1/4 cup ghee, 1/2 cup rava and cashews. Add all the ingredients together. Keep the heat to low/medium.

It will take 3 to 5 minutes for rava to roast well. The best indication for this is to check if the cashews have become golden brown. If a cashew is golden brown, it means the rava is roasted well too.

Turn off the heat for both rava once it is roasted and for the sugar syrup once the sugar is dissolved. Pour the boiling hot sugar syrup (be careful!) into the roasted rava mixture in cooker.

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I shared this recipe on my Instagram for the first time in 2020 and later in 2021 on my stories with stepwise instructions on how to make it. You can be assured that I have tried it for 7 years and made it several times before posting it here. This has been recreated in several kitchens and I have received DMs on Instagram about how amazed they are with how this works.

Please leave a comment below if you made this recipe, have any questions or thoughts! Your comment will help me learn more about your preferences and other readers.

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