I'm so excited to share this delicious vegan Rava Kesari recipe with you all! It's a warm, sweet, and comforting dessert that is perfect for winter.
Kesari Bath is a popular dish in Karnataka, India, and I grew up eating it often. This version is made with semolina (rava), sugar, cardamom, almonds, cashews, and coconut milk. It's simple to make and tastes amazing!
How to make a veganized Indian Dessert?
There is nothing better than a warm and sweet dessert with coffee, especially on a cold wintery day.
That's my inspiration today for making Vegan Rava Kesari. It's called "Kesari Bath" in the local dialect in Karnataka and it is my personal favorite dish to make with Semolina (Rava).
It's a traditional Indian dessert that is typically made with lots of ghee. So, as I was trying out vegan options for ghee, I struck gold with my combination of coconut milk and other ingredients I have listed here.
In my vegan journey thus far, I have definitely been delighted by the way this recipe has turned out. After all, it is possible to prepare awesome desserts without dairy!
So much that it has become a huge hit in my family. It takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. So, when you have guests to entertain on short notice, Vegan Rava Kesari is the way to go.
One little side note on that is you will need to have the ingredients readily available. Of all the ingredients I have listed, saffron strands might be the hardest one to get.
But I can tell you from personal experiences and trials that it is definitely worth the extra effort. The aroma of saffron is just heavenly.
Ingredients note
Rava: I use fine semolina for this recipe, but you can also use coarse semolina. The texture will be slightly different but it will still taste great!
Sugar: You can adjust the amount of sugar to your liking.
Coconut milk: I prefer to use full-fat coconut milk for this recipe, but you can use light coconut milk if you prefer.
Cardamom: I love the flavor of cardamom in this dish, but you can omit it if you don't have any on hand.
Cashews: These are optional, but I love the flavor and texture that they add to the dish.
Directions
Place a pan over medium heat with 2 teaspoon olive oil and roast the rava or semolina. You can easily tell from the aroma.
Place the semolina on a plate and let it cool. In the same pan, boil 1¼ cup water and 1 cup coconut milk and drop the saffron strands in them.
When it starts to boil, add the roasted semolina. Stir well to remove any lumps. After about 3-4 minutes of constant stirring, add sugar and olive oil and continue to stir.
Continue to stir until all the ingredients are evenly mixed. Now, add cardamom powder and roasted cashews to it and mix well.
Vegan Rava Kesari is ready!
Tips
- If the Kesari is too thick, you can add more coconut milk to thin it out.
- For a richer flavor, you can roast the semolina in a pan before adding it to the coconut milk.
- Use avocado oil or other neutral-flavored oil instead of ghee.
- Instead of saffron, you can use a pinch of turmeric for yellow color.
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Rava Kesari
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup rava - semolina
- 1 cup canned coconut milk
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 2 saffron strands
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 10 cashews - optional
Instructions
- Place a pan over medium heat with 2 teaspoon olive oil and roast the rava or semolina. You can easily tell from the aroma. Place the semolina on a plate and let it cool.1 cup rava
- In the same pan, boil 1 ¼ cup water and 1 cup coconut milk and drop the saffron strands in them.1 cup canned coconut milk, 2 saffron strands
- When it starts to boil, add the roasted semolina. Stir well to remove any lumps.
- After about 3-4 minutes of constant stirring, add sugar and olive oil and continue to stir.1 ¼ cup granulated sugar, 3 tablespoon olive oil
- Continue to stir until all the ingredients are evenly mixed.
- Now, add cardamom powder and roasted cashews to it and mix well.¼ teaspoon cardamom powder, 10 cashews
Process Shot
Check above for step-by-step pictures (most of my recipes include pictures)
Notes
- If the Kesari is too thick, you can add more coconut milk to thin it out.
- For a richer flavor, you can roast the semolina in a pan before adding it to the coconut milk.
- Use avocado oil or other neutral-flavored oil instead of ghee.
- Instead of saffron, you can use a pinch of turmeric for yellow color.
YOUR OWN NOTES
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation only.
Aparna Datt
I had been searching for this ever since I turned vegan, any particular olive oil like virgin , refined or cold pressed etc. can I use olive oil used for Italian cooking which has a strong flavour. Will it show up in the final product ?
Uma Raghupathi
Hi Aparna. You can use any kind of oil which is fragrant free. I used light olive oil, some time I use corn oil. Hope this will help you. Good luck!
Gayathri
Hi... Can we substitute olive oil with some other oil???
Uma Raghupathi
Hi Gayathri, You can substitute with other oil. But it won't taste good as much as with olive oil. Try with refined coconut oil, because it has no coconut scent. That might be better. Believe me I have tried with all the oil options, finally i got delicious recipe with olive oil option. Hope this will help you. Happy cooking!
Cook with Smile..
Looks great... Love the addition of coconut milk ☺
Uma Raghupathi
Thank you ?
Maria Doss
I love your vegan choice of ingredients, Uma. As you can imagine, rava kesari was a sweet that I grew up with. In the northern part of India, suji halwa is made with milk instead and lots of lots of ghee. This recipe with coconut milk and olive oil is a brilliant and healthier twist to this classic.
Uma Raghupathi
Thank you Maria:) Yes it's tough to replace the ghee, but nothing is impossible:)