Banana-Rava Halwa ( A sweet Confection with Banana,Semolina and pure Ghee)

Banana-Rava Halwa

Semolina is the purified middlings of durum wheat used in making pasta; also, the coarse middlings are used for breakfast cereals and puddings. The term “Semolina” derives from the Italian word “Semola. Semolina, made from durum wheat, is known in North India as Sooji; in South India, Ravey in Kannada, Rava/Ravam/Ravai in Telugu/Tamil, In Tamilnadu, the Semolina is also made of rice. In Turkey, semolina is known as irmik. (Source-Wiki)

I happened to read “Sundara Gaandam from Valmiki Ramayana” for 5 days over the last month. My mom brought the book from India and was reading it. She suggested it’s very good to read Ramayana, especially Sundara Gaandam. Also my cousin Divya had  sent me a beautiful handmade painting of Ram and Sita, done by her, as a present. Lot of good vibes. So, read Sundara gaandam in 5 days( about 30-45 min each day), and finished it on the the 5th day by reading Ramar Pattabhishekam( taking the throne) and Neivedhyam. I offered Banana-Rava halwa, which is done during Satyanaraya pooja-vrath.

There are several protocols on how to read them in  3 days, 5 days 9 days etc. It was such a beautiful feeling to read how Sri Hanuman flew to Lanka as a messenger of Rama, in search of Sita, who was abducted by Ravana. Sundara Gaandam describes, how Hanuman meets Sita and convinces her that Rama is on his way to rescue her and how he conveys the message and carries the souvenir from Rama to Sita and vice versa. I would read it in the morning and in the night tell the story to my daughter. She loves listening to Ramayana. It is believed, by listening or reading Sundara Gandam, one receives the blessings of Sri Ram and Hanuman.

Ramayana is equivalent to Vedas. The word “Ra ma”is derived from the middle letter of “Om Namo Narayana” and “Namashivaya”, incorporating both Vishnu and Shiva to give Rama. While I was reading Ramayana, came across something interesting. After the pattabhishekam, Rama once asked Sita, if she liked him or his story(The Ramayana). Sita replied that she actually liked his story more than him, the reason being, Sita was leading a miserable life in Lanka after being abducted by Ravana and was starving, feeling weak, tired and had no clue why Rama did not rescue her so far. She even had suicidal thoughts and that is exactly when she heard Hanuman telling Rama’s story from a tree above. She immediately left her suicidal thoughts behind and felt happy that her husband Rama would save her. That is why she liked Rama’s story more than him.

Banana-Rava Halwa

Ingredients:

• Banana-finely chopped-1 (medium size).
• Rava or sooji- 1cup.
• Milk-1cup.
• Water-1/2cup.
• Ghee- 2tblsp.
• Sugar-1/2 cup.
• Cardamom powder-little.
• Yellow food color-a pinch-optional.
• Raisins and nuts to decorate-optional.

Method:

1. In a pan, fry rava in ghee until a nice aroma comes and rava starts to turn light brown.
2. Add  warmwater, warm milk and chopped banana pieces to the pan and cook.
3. When banana and rava are cooked, add sugar and ghee, cardomom and food color.
4. When mixture leaves the sides, remove from fire.

Tip: Select a firm, ripe banana for this halwa preparation. Do not use under ripe, over ripe ones. Nendhram pazham can be used for the same.

Presentation Tip:Tried in a dark background. Felt like it was too busy. So tried photographing against a more neutral background and the dish looked much better and the attention went to the dish instead of the background.

Garnish: Since the halwa was of the play dough consistency, I was able to mould it to a well. Filled with ghee(obviously only for garnishing purpose) and decorated with almonds, cashews, pistachios, raisins and banana rounds.

Banana sooji halwa

Sending this to Innovative Inlaws- Nithya and Pavithra http://innovativein-laws.blogspot.com/ , garnish the dish event.

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“Rava Idli” from Scratch( Healthy Semolina Pancakes)

Rava Idli

Why get the ready made mixes, when you can make yummy Rava idli’s from scratch, in a snap. It is really simple to make this and it is a very healthy tiffin option  & easy to digest and  most of all kids won’t make a fuss to eat this steamed treat. I also add some scraped carrots to make it more healthy, fun, interesting and colorful.

Ingredients:                                                                    

• Bombay Rava- 1cup ( 8 idlis).
• Green chilly-2.
• Ginger- 1 inch.
• Cashew nuts- 10.
• Oil- 2 tsp.
• Mustard seeds- 1tsp.
• Channa Dhal- 1tsp.
• Curry leaves- an arc.
• Baking powder-a teeny bit.
• Salt- for taste.
• Coconut scrapes-1tsp.
• Curd- 1/2 cup. (its ok if its is sour).
• Ghee- 1tsp for coating idli plates.

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
2. Once the mustard seeds starts splattering, add channa dhal, chopped green chillies, chopped ginger, curry leaves and cashews.
3. Add Rava to it and roast until it becomes light brown.
4. Add curd, salt, baking powder coconut scrapes and let  the batter sit for 1o minutes.
5. Coat the idli plates with ghee and pour the rava batter.
6. Steam the rava idli’s in a cooker.
7. In a few minutes, hot rava idli’s will be ready.
8. Serve with coconut or coriander chutney.

Note:

1. If required, 2tsp of semiya or (vermicelli) can be added to the rava( semolina).
2. If you are using scraped carrots, add the scraped carrots to the idli pan in the design you want and then pour the batter.

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