Indian Cupcakes / Sheera / Sooji ka Halwa

We were planning to visit my husband's cousin in San Diego, CA and wanted to make something for her. I had prepared Masala Dosa Batter and chutney and was going to make the sabzi (potato curry) at her place. To make it a complete meal, I wanted to take some sweet dish and I could think of 2 types of sheera: One is Ravyacha Sheera/ Sooji ka Halwa (Sapat - that's what the konkanis call it) and second was Pithacha Sheera/Aatte ka Halwa, which my mother used to make with loads of love and ghee. I ended up making Ravyacha Sheera/Sooji Ka Halwa  as I wanted to use the banana I had and Pithacha sheera would have been an experiment ( I have never made it before but I have seen my mother make it) on her and her family which comprises of herself, her husband and a cute lil dog (Sammy).

The best part of our short visit to San Diego was the Gourmet Food Truck Festival at Del Mar. It had 30-35 gourmet food trucks - Right from Naan-Stop to 'Cupcake Wars' Winner Corner Cupcakes. There were huge lines for every food truck but we still managed to get some awesome food without a loooong wait. We had some attractive Potato Tornadoes which made people stop and ask us what exactly it was(that is what even I did). We also did some crazy photo session as if I was drowning in beer glass.

Potato Tornadoes (Cajun Style held by Ram and I am holding the Sweet Potato Style)  were the 

head-turners

HEEEEELP!!! I am drowning (read enjoying) in a glass full of beer!

Ingredients: 
Rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1 cup
Ghee/Indian Butter - 5tbspn
Milk - 1 cup
Water - 1cup
Sugar - 3/4cups
Cardamom/Elaichi, Powdered- 4 pods
Cashews, chopped - 1/3 cup
Raisins - 1 Tbspn
Ripe Banana - 1

Procedure: 

1. In a pan, roast the rava/sooji, cashews and raisins for 3-5mins on medium heat, stirring constantly. Make sure you don't over-roast it and make it brown.
2. At the same time, boil the water and milk together on med heat.
3. Now slowly pour the boiling water+milk mixture over the roasted rava stirring it simultaneously. Make sure no lumps are formed.
4. Now add the sugar, mashed ripe banana and the ghee and mix it well and shut it with the lid. Let it cook for 4-5mins on med-low heat.
5. Lastly, add the elaichi powder and mix it and serve warm or cold.

Variations: 
Remember that the Rava : (Milk+Water) proportion has to be 1:2. So you can vary it to make more water less milk or vice versa (I prefer it more milk and less water).
Also, you can roast cashews and raisins separately in butter and then add it to sheera after step # 3.

Conclusion:

It was very yummy, low in sugar (as everyone prefers less sugar now a days) and super moist Sheera. Even Sammy enjoyed a small morsel :).