Parsee Sagan No Ravo

Parsee Sagan No Ravo

At midnight, tonight, my baby (my blog) turned one year old. On the occasion of its first birthday, I bring to you a sweet Parsee delicacy that is always, always made on auspicious days/occasions. I request you all to join me in celebration for my baby’s birthday. To all of you who follow my blog, a big “THANK YOU”. Please do share the joys that my baby brings to your kitchen and to your table with your family and friends and share the blog with them. God Bless!

Ingredients:

¼ kilo semolina/rava/suji

150 grams clarified butter/ghee

1 tin (400 grams) Milkmaid

¼ - ½ cup sugar, or as desired according to individual taste

A few strands of saffron

1½ - 2 liters milk, as required - according to consistency desired

¼ teaspoon vanilla essence

50 grams cashew nuts, each cut/split into two

50 grams almonds, blanched and slivered

50 grams pistachios, each cut/split into two

1 – 1½ tablespoon butter

Method:

1. In a pan heat the butter, add the cashew nuts, slivered almonds and pistachios.
2. Gently, on medium heat, fry them till they turn light golden.
3. Drain the nuts from the butter and keep them aside.
4. Take ½ cup hot milk from the specified amount of milk mentioned. Add the saffron, cover the bowl and allow the color of the saffron to seep.
5. Heat clarified butter/ghee, add the semolina and roast on medium low heat till it’s well roasted (it should not change color)
6. Add the milk gradually to the roasted semolina. Ensure that there are no lumps (quite the same way as you would when making White sauce/Béchamel sauce).
7. Add the saffron milk.
8. Add more milk if required. The consistency of the semolina should be such that it is smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
9. Add the Milkmaid and stir well. Check for sweetness, add sugar as needed. (if you feel Milkmaid is enough, feel free to avoid the sugar completely).
10. Add the vanilla essence; give it a good stir and remove from heat.
11. Remove in a serving platter, garnish with fried dry fruits and serve.
    
    

Chef’s Notes: 

1. My grandma and my mum-in-law used to cool the ravo (after it was cooked) to warm temperature and add 2-3 beaten egg yolks to it. If you chose to do that, instead of adding the vanilla essence to the ravo, add it to the yolks when you lightly beat them with a fork. This ensures that the egg-y smell of the yolk doesn’t permeate the ravo. Mix the lightly beaten yolk-essence mixture to the ravo, put in back on the stove and reheat stirring all the time. I usually omit this step these days as this makes the ravo very rich and heavy and in turn it makes me very heavy. ;) :D
2. You can also use fried brown raisins for garnish along with the other fried dry fruits. I don’t because my bitter half hates raisins. Did I say bitter half?? Opppss, I meant better half. :P
3. I prefer making this with saffron infused milk but if you don’t like the flavor of saffron feel free to make this with plain milk.
4. I have mentioned the proportion of the milk as 1½ to 2 liters because the proportion will depend on your preference of consistency for the ravo. You may use just 1½ liters if you prefer it thick or you may take it all the way to 2 liters if you prefer it slightly thinner. My experience at making this dish, time and time again, has proved that for the quantity of semolina mentioned you will not need less than 1½ liters milk, nor will you need more than 2 liters. 
5. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.