If you want to head over straight to the recipe- i wont mind. I am in the mood to ramble- although this post is not gonna be a long one. I love all kinds of food- sweet and spicy, hot and sour, bitter too. I love my sweets as much as i love the spice. At my house, my aai had to make something sweet for us every single day, especially during the hot summers in Ahmedabad. Yes i have an incredibly sweet tooth. A couple of days ago, i was working on a project while watching one of the reality shows on food network- the challenge was to create chocolate cupcakes. Just watching those talented cooks create unique and sinfully delightful chocolate cakes suddenly made me crave something sweet. And the craving brought my work to a standstill. Now you cannot equate a chocolate cake and sheera- however, i did- only because they fall into the same category of foods. Since i was loathe to drive to the bakery to get something sweet and since the only ingredients i had at home were the sooji and milk, sheera was what i decided to cook.


Ingredients

1/2 cup sooji/semolina
1 cup whole or 2% milk
1/2 cup sugar (you can add more or less depending on your taste)
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
5-6 strands saffron
2 tsp raisins
3 tsp semi-crushed cashews
2-3 tbsp ghee


1. Heat the ghee in a cooking pan. Add the sooji and saute it till it turns golden in color.
2. In the same vessel add in the raisins and semi-crushed cashews and saute for 2-3 minutes.
3. Separately boil the milk and add the sugar when it starts boiling.
4. Add the boiled milk to the sooji-raisin-cashew mixture and let cook till it completely softens.
5. Cover the cooking pan and let cook for 5-10 mintes stirring a couple of times.
6. Next add the cardamom powder to it and let cook till the mixture thickens up.
7. Separately soak the saffron in some warm milk and add it to the sheera in the end, give it a good stir and serve- hot or cold.


Variations- Add a banana or mango/mango pulp. The Satyanarayan sheera is usually made with banana and tulsi (holy basil leaves) added in.