Kesari Bath is a popular dish in Karnataka, India, and I grew up eating it often. It is reminiscent of the good times from my childhood during auspicious occasions like Ganesh Chaturthi and Diwali.
Kesari recipe is the perfect dessert for those times when you need something ready in less than an hour.
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The traditional base recipe uses semolina (roasted rava), sugar, cardamom, and ghee, complimented by roasted dry fruits.
But I wanted to make a vegan version without compromising ease, flavor, or texture.
It was a challenge, but I've perfected this vegan rava kesari bath recipe with some experimentation and a few substitutions!
I will show you how to make a lump-free, smooth, delicious Kesari bath here. Within 30 minutes, you can make this simple crowd-pleaser dessert.
It would be the best rava kesari you have tasted in a long time!
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Reasons to love this recipe
- This sweet recipe is perfect for any special occasions or festival- This perfect rava kesari bath will please everyone in the family.
- It is extremely easy to make and uses just a few pantry ingredients.
- This rava kesari is vegan - It turns out with the perfect texture you expect from any kesari recipe and the flavors are spot on!
- Very quick and simple to customize with your flavors like mango kesari or pineapple kesari.
- You will need a smaller amount of sugar compared to other desserts like rava ladoo.
Ingredients
- Rava/Sooji
- Sugar
- Vegan ghee or Avocado oil
- Cashews
- Golden raisins
- Cardamoms
See the recipe card for a list of ingredients and quantities, plus recipe instructions. You can find the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Instructions
Place a pan over medium heat and add three teaspoons of vegan ghee.
After the oil heats up, add cashew nuts. Roast for a few minutes until they turn golden brown. Remove the cashews and add raisins to the same pan. Once they are puffed up, remove from heat.
Add one cup rava/sooji and stir until it has a nice aroma. Remove from the pan.
Add 2 and ½ cups of water to the same pan.
When the water starts to boil, add roasted semolina.
Stir well to remove any lumps.
After 3-4 minutes of constant stirring over medium flame, add sugar, oil (or vegan ghee), and saffron and continue to stir.
Continue to stir until all the ingredients are evenly mixed.
Add one(1) teaspoon of cardamom powder, roasted raisins, and roasted cashews to it and mix well.
Kesari bath is ready to enjoy with a cup of vegan chai!
Top tips
- Keep stirring the rava to prevent lumps or Rava sticking to the sides of the pan.
- If you prefer a soft texture, add ½ cup extra water and one tablespoon of avocado oil.
- For a quicker procedure prepare your hot water using a kettle while roasting rava.
- Roast sooji/rava in oil or ghee for a better taste.
- You can choose to add saffron color to the roasted rava to get a bright, festive color.
Serving Suggestions
This vegan rava kesari bath is best served warm or at room temperature. It can be enjoyed as a dessert with tea and coffee as well! Serve it for breakfast along with Khara bath, rava upma, millet upma, or quinoa upma.
Substitutions
Rava: I used Bombay rava (coarse small rava) if you are going with medium coarse rava or wheat rava increase the water ratio (add 3 cups of water)
Vegan ghee: You can substitute vegan ghee with melted coconut oil or avocado oil. But if you want the flavor of ghee, I would suggest using vegan ghee.
Sugar: You can use any kind of sweetener like jaggery, coconut sugar, or any other sweetener according to your preference.
Cashews: You can skip cashews. And use roasted almonds or pistachios.
Saffron strands: I have used saffron for color. However, you can also replace it with an orange food color. Or add a pinch of turmeric.
Storage
The sooji halwa or Kesari can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Heat it over a low flame before serving.
If you like, top it with some melted ghee or oil. This will add a nice flavor and aroma to the dish. Enjoy!
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📖 Recipe
Rava Kesari Bath Recipe (Vegan)
Equipment
Process Shot
Check above for step-by-step pictures (most of my recipes include pictures)
Ingredients
- 1 cup rava - fine semolina
- 2 ½ cup water
- 5 saffron strands - or food color
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- ½ - 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 6 tablespoon vegan ghee - or avocado oil
- 10 cashews - optional
- 2 tablespoon raisins
Instructions
- Place a pan over medium heat and add three teaspoons of vegan ghee.
- After the oil heats up, add cashew nuts. Roast for a few minutes until they turn golden brown. Remove the cashews and add raisins to the same pan. Once they are puffed up, remove from heat.10 cashews, 2 tablespoon raisins
- Add one cup rava/sooji and stir until it has a nice aroma. Remove from the pan.1 cup rava
- Add 2 and ½ cups of water to the same pan.
- When the water starts to boil, add roasted semolina.
- Stir well to remove any lumps. After 3-4 minutes of constant stirring over medium flame, add sugar, oil (or vegan ghee), and saffron and continue to stir.1 ½ cup sugar, 6 tablespoon vegan ghee, 5 saffron strands
- Continue to stir until all the ingredients are evenly mixed.
- Add one(1) teaspoon of cardamom powder, roasted raisins, and roasted cashews to it and mix well.½ - 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
- Kesari bath is ready to enjoy with a cup of vegan chai!
Notes
- Keep stirring the rava to prevent lumps or Rava sticking to the sides of the pan.
- If you prefer a soft texture, add ½ cup extra water and one tablespoon of avocado oil.
- For a quicker procedure prepare your hot water using a kettle while roasting rava.
- Roast sooji/rava in oil or ghee for a better taste.
- You can choose to add saffron color to the roasted rava to get a bright, festive 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:)