Rava Sheera | Sooji Halwa - Herbivore Cucina

A brown plate with sooji halwa served topped with rose petals on top; with diyas on the background.

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5 from 1 vote

Rava Sheera | Sooji Halwa

An easy to make yet addictive Indian dessert; Sooji Halwa is a must-have sweet for festivals and celebrations!

Super quick, only a handful of ingredients and yet addictive!

Prep Time5

Cook Time25

Total Time30

Course: Breakfast, Sweets

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 347kcal

Author: Smruti

Ingredients

1 cup Semolina (Rava/Sooji)
1 cup Ghee
1 cup Sugar
¾ cup Milk
1½ cup Water
2-3 pods Cardamom pods
1-2 Cinnamon stick
3-4 Cloves
¼ cup Almonds
¼ cup Cashews
4-5 Raisins
1 pinch Saffron

Instructions

In a pan add ¼ cup ghee and sooji.
1 cup Semolina (Rava/Sooji)
Mix well and roast on medium flame for 8-10 minutes till golden brown and flavorful. Ensure that the sooji does not burn.
Remove from flame and transfer to a plate.
In the same pan add the remaining ghee and heat. Once hot add the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and cloves.
1 cup Ghee, 2-3 pods Cardamom pods, 1-2 Cinnamon stick, 3-4 Cloves
Fry for a minute and add almonds, cashews and raisins.
¼ cup Almonds, ¼ cup Cashews, 4-5 Raisins
Mix well and let them turn golden. The raisins will puff up indicating it is done.
Add in the saffron and start pouring the milk. It will splutter so be careful while pouring. Add in the sugar and water. Bring to a boil and then add in the roasted sooji.
1 cup Sugar, ¾ cup Milk, 1 pinch Saffron, 1½ cup Water
Stir continuously while adding the sooji to avoid lumps. The mixture will start to thicken slowly. Keep stirring till all the liquids are absorbed and the halwa becomes soft.
Turn down the heat and serve garnished with more nuts, dried rose petals and silver varakh (if using).

Notes

Ratio of ingredients: The ideal ratio of sugar to semolina to ghee is 1:1:1. This ratio gives us the creamiest and perfectly sweet sheera. Moreover, this ratio is great when making rava sheera as prasad for Satyanarayan Pooja or other religious events. As we generally do not taste this before serving, maintaining the ratio is easy. However, reduce the ghee or sugar if you like.

Picking the right semolina: We can make this rava sheera with both coarse and fine semolina. Coarse semolina makes it fluffy and grainy. However, fine semolina yields a smooth floury sheera. I like to use coarse rava for my sheera.

Roasting Semolina: Carefully roast the semolina on medium heat till it is roasted well. Roasting it on high flame will burn the rava and not make it appetizing.

Swapping Milk: Ideally use both milk and water in the sheera. This makes it creamy yet not super milky. However, if you want, either swap dairy based milk for any nut milk or use all water. The result will vary but it is still yummy.

Edible Camphor: A lot of times when we make this rava sheera for Satyanarayan katha or other celebrations, we add some dible camphor to the bhog. It is also common to add it for Kanjak Pooja; which is celebrated on the 8th day of Navratri.

Stirring the sheera: Once we add all the ingredients to the pan and start cooking it, keep stirring well. Else the sheera will form lumps and they are pretty difficult to work with.

Adjusting the liquids: The amount of liquids the rava will absorb depends on the type, brand and how old it is. In case the sheera starts to turn too lumpy and dry, add hot water or hot milk to it.

Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates using an automated calculator. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.

Nutrition