The last recipe for this week's Prep to table theme is this delicious dessert, Barnyard Millet Kesari | Kuthiraivali Kesari. My boys love kesari and they would be so excited to eat kesari as there after school snack.
Millet is still very underused in my family. No one except me really cares about it.Since it is just me, it often get slipped out and goes unnoticed. Lately, I have been using millet in many different recipes where it is not even noticed.
My husband has no problem consuming it as long as he does not know that it has millet. It is more of a mental block and I am hoping that this is just a phase and soon he will start looking at the health benefits of the millet.
Couple of weeks back, I went to the Indian stores with my friend and she introduced me to this Barnyard millet / Kuthiraivali. She told me that she cooks it just like rice and uses it as a substitute for rice. I tried it for me and this is one millet that resembles very close to rice.
So when looking to make a dessert recipe for the theme, I thought why not make something with the Barnyard millet. Kesari is the absolute favorite dessert of my boys and I made the Barnyard Millet Kesari | Kuthiraivali Kesari.
My other Kesari recipes -
Semiya Kesari / Vermicelli Kesari
F for Fruit kesari – Mixed Fruit kesari
My other Millet recipes -
Thinai Sweet Paniyaram | Foxtail Millet Sweet Paniyaram
Thinai Ven Pongal Recipe | Foxtail Millet Savory Pongal – Vegan and Gluten Free Recipe
Haryana Bajra Roti – Gluten Free Millet Flatbread
Ragi Dosai – Instant Finger Millet Dosai
Ragi Idiyappam | Ragi Sevai | Finger Millet String Hopper | Kezhvaragu Idiyappam
Preparation time - 5 minutes
Cooking time - 20 minutes
Difficulty level - easy
Ingredients to make Barnyard Millet Kesari | Kuthiraivali Kesari - (serves 4)
- Kuthiraivali / Barnyard millet - ½ cup
- Sugar - 1 cup
- Water - 1 ½ cups to 2 cups
- Cardamom powder - ½ tsp
- Ghee / clarified butter - 3 TBSP
- Cashew nuts - 2 TBSP (broken into pieces)
- Raisin - 2 TBSP
- Orange food color - a pinch (optional)
Procedure to make Barnyard Millet Kesari | Kuthiraivali Kesari
- Heat about 1 tsp of ghee / clarified butter in a pan. Add the measured Barnyard millet and keep stirring to evenly roast the millet. Make sure that you fry it in low to medium flame. The millet will turn aromatic and slightly change color.
- Remove the millet and let it cool to room temperature.
- Grind the roasted millet to a fine semolina / rava like texture.
- In the same pan, heat 1 more tsp of ghee and fry the cashews and the raisins. Remove it on a plate.
- In the mean time, heat about 3 cups of water and bring it to boil. Let it simmer.
- Return the ground millet to the same pan and add fry for a minute more to heat it up. Now lower the flame and slowly add the boiling water to the millet. Mix well to avoid any lumps and let the millet cook in low flame. Keep adding more hot water to make sure that the millet cooks well. It will take about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Check to see if the millet is cooked completely and is soft.
- Add the measured sugar to the cooked millet and mix well. Add 1 TBSP of ghee and let the kesari cook.
- The mixture will start to solidify. At this stage add the remaining ghee, food coloring (if using) and the cardamom powder. Mix well and cook until the kesari starts leaving the sides of the pan.
- Add the fried cashew and raisin and turn off the flame.
- The kesari is now ready to serve.
If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter
Ingredients
- ½ cup Kuthiraivali / Barnyard millet
- 1 cup Sugar
- 11/2 cup Water
- ½ tsp Cardamom powder
- 3 tbsp Ghee / clarified butter
- 2 tbsp Cashew nuts broken into pieces
- 2 tbsp Raisin
- Orange food color a pinch - optional
Instructions
- Heat about 1 tsp of ghee / clarified butter in a pan. Add the measured Barnyard millet and keep stirring to evenly roast the millet. Make sure that you fry it in low to medium flame. The millet will turn aromatic and slightly change color.
- Remove the millet and let it cool to room temperature.
- In the same pan, heat 1 more tsp of ghee and fry the cashews and the raisins. Remove it on a plate.
- In the mean time, heat about 3 cups of water and bring it to boil. Let it simmer.
- Grind the roasted millet to a fine semolina / rava like texture.
- Return the ground millet to the same pan and add fry for a minute more to heat it up. Now lower the flame and slowly add the boiling water to the millet. Mix well to avoid any lumps and let the millet cook in low flame. Keep adding more hot water to make sure that the millet cooks well. It will take about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Check to see if the millet is cooked completely and is soft.
- Add the measured sugar to the cooked millet and mix well. Add 1 TBSP of ghee and let the kesari cook.
- The mixture will start to solidify. At this stage add the remaining ghee, food coloring (if using) and the cardamom powder. Mix well and cook until the kesari starts leaving the sides of the pan.
- Add the fried cashew and raisin and turn off the flame.
- The kesari is now ready to serve.
rekha nagpurkar says
Loved your recipe and made it. Used hagey instead of sugar.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks a lot! Glad you liked it.
code2cook says
Looking at this millet kesari I am remembering rava kesari and my mouth watering. looking so delicious with this color. I am sure that no difference can be made until you tell that it is made with millets. Great recipe share.
Chef Mireille says
this has such a luxurious texture - who would guess it is made with healthy millets?
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan says
Great idea to make kesari with barnyard millet. Love that vibrant color. I still have some barnyard millet. Will try it out.
Sandhiya says
Wow, i was amazed by this post when you shared it on fb itself. Such a nice twist to the classic sweet. Wanna try this millet kesari soon. Great Share, Sandhya.
Gayathri Kumar says
Hahaha, so true Sandhya. When they don't know what went into it, they wouldn't mind it. That is why I don't say anything when I try recipes with new ingredients. Only after the plate is polished off I reveal the ingredients. This Kesari looks fantastic. No one can find out that it is made with millet.
harini says
My husband also consumes millets when he doesn't/can't taste it. So idlis, dosas etc are totally game. I love the idea of kesari as well.
Priya Suresh says
Even i love to make kesari with millets than semolina in recent days, kesari with barnyard millet came out simply fabulous.