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    Home » indian sweet

    Instant Pot Sooji Halwa – Rava Kesari

    Published: Oct 18, 2018 · Modified: Jan 7, 2019 by Richa 14 Comments

    Jump to Recipe   Print Recipe

    Instant Pot Sooji Halwa – Rava Kesari / Sheera. Vegan Indian Spoon Fudge. Add pineapple or bananas for Pienapple or Banana Sheera. Can be nutfree, glutenfree  Jump to Recipe  

    Instant Pot Sooji Halwa - Rava Kesari / Sheera. Vegan Indian Spoon Fudge. Add pineapple or bananas for Pienapple or Banana Sheera. Can be nutfree, glutenfree #veganricha #vegan #indian #soojihalwa

    Like Every year, festivals and holidays come around the same time and I try to fit recipes for both on the blog. This year, the festival of Dussehra is just around the corner and Diwali is on Nov 7. These festivals have various stories and are celebrated differently by different sects. The celebrations have some common elements like getting together with family and friends and the lots of festival food! Special meals, snacks and desserts. 

    Indian Desserts can be from the stores,.. sugary, dairy filled or simple halwas that are made at home. This Sooji Halwa – Soon fudge made with semolina is simple and great to whip up within minutes for company. You can make it in the Instant Pot or in a saucepan on stove top. Add nuts and dried fruit of choice. 1 Pot, Smooth, toasty, delicious! See Recipe notes for Glutenfree, Nutfree and oilfree options. 


    Instant Pot Sooji Halwa - Rava Kesari / Sheera. Vegan Indian Spoon Fudge. Add pineapple or bananas for Pienapple or Banana Sheera. Can be nutfree, glutenfree #veganricha #vegan #indian #soojihalwa

    More Indian Desserts for Dussehra and Diwali

    • Gajar Halwa- Carrot Spoon fudge GF.
    • Malai Burfi .GF
    • Mango Sheera / Halwa 
    • Mango Burfi – GF Bars
    • Kesar Peda – GF Saffron almond fudge cookies
    • 7 Cup Burfi – Chickpea flour coconut Fudge. GF
    • Vermicelli Kheer Pudding – GF option
    • More Indian Sweets like Gulab jamun, Kaju Katli,Laddoos.

    Instant Pot Sooji Halwa - Rava Kesari / Sheera. Vegan Indian Spoon Fudge. Add pineapple or bananas for Pienapple or Banana Sheera. Can be nutfree, glutenfree #veganricha #vegan #indian #soojihalwa Instant Pot Sooji Halwa - Rava Kesari / Sheera. Vegan Indian Spoon Fudge. Add pineapple or bananas for Pienapple or Banana Sheera. Can be nutfree, glutenfree #veganricha #vegan #indian #soojihalwa

    The Halwa is also called sheera or kesari. For the Navratri festivities, it is served as a meal with brown chickpea curry and fried poori flatbread. An amazing combination!. It always invokes memories of mom frying up pooris at 6 am for the 9 am pooja. Instant Pot Sooji Halwa - Rava Kesari / Sheera. Vegan Indian Spoon Fudge. Add pineapple or bananas for Pienapple or Banana Sheera. Can be nutfree, glutenfree #veganricha #vegan #indian #soojihalwa

    Instant Pot Sooji Halwa - Rava Kesari / Sheera. Vegan Indian Spoon Fudge. Add pineapple or bananas for Pienapple or Banana Sheera. Can be nutfree, glutenfree #veganricha #vegan #indian #soojihalwa
    Print Recipe
    5 from 1 vote

    Instant Pot Sooji Halwa - Rava Sheera

    Instant Pot Sooji Halwa - Rava Kesari / Sheera. Vegan Indian Spoon Fudge. Add pineapple or bananas for Pineapple or Banana Sheera. Can be nutfree, glutenfree
    Prep Time10 mins
    Cook Time15 mins
    Total Time25 mins
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: Indian, Vegan
    Keyword: sheera, sooji sheera, suji ka halwa
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 479kcal
    Author: Vegan Richa

    Ingredients

    • 3 tbsp vegan butter or oil
    • 1 cup (236.59 g) sooji (semolina, not semolina flour)
    • 5 tbsp cashews
    • 10 to 12 (12 ) dates chopped
    • 8 to 10 tbsp sugar (date sugar, coconut sugar, jaggery powder or regular - some sugars are not as sweet, so use 2 tbsp more for sweeter
    • 1/8 tsp (0.13 tsp) salt , 1/4 tsp if using oil
    • 3/4 tsp (0.75 tsp) ground cardamom
    • 8 strands of saffron
    • 3 cups (750 ml) water

    Instructions

    • Press saute on the Instant Pot. When hot, add vegan butter or oil. Add cashews and roast for a minute.
    • Add dates and roast for half a minute. Add the semolina and cook for 2 mins, stirring occasionally. The semolina will start to get puffy.
    • Switch off saute. Add the sugar, salt, cardamom and saffron and mix.
    • Add water and mix well. You can also add 1/2 cup finely chopped pineapple or banana at this point to make pineapple kesari or banana kesari.
    • Mix to pick up all the semolina from the bottom and the sides. Mix for a few seconds so the sugar dissolves.
    • Close the lid, pressure cook for 3 mins. Release the pressure after 10 mins
    • Mix and Fluff and serve garnished with a pinch of ground cardamom and almond, pistachio slivers.

    Notes

    To make this gluten-free: Use cream of rice or other hot cereal which is similar texture as cream of wheat. 
    Omit the nuts for nut-free
     
    Oil-free: To make this oil-free follow the Stove top method below. Without oil,  halwa will tend to stick or burn in the IP.
     
    Stovetop: Heat 3.5 cups of water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add oil (or omit) in another saucepan over medium heat. Add semolina and roast in oil or dry roast for 6 to 7 mins, stirring occasionally. Add the cashews and dates and continue to roast for another 1-2 mins or until the semolina changes color lightly and looks puffy. Add salt, cardamom and mix in. Add the boiling water +sugar mix slowly and keep stirring until well combined. Cook for 3 mins. Mix well. Cover and take off heat. Let sit for another 3 mins, then fluff and serve.
     
    Nutrition is for 1 Serve

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Instant Pot Sooji Halwa - Rava Sheera
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 479 Calories from Fat 144
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 16g25%
    Saturated Fat 1g6%
    Sodium 84mg4%
    Potassium 297mg8%
    Carbohydrates 79g26%
    Fiber 3g13%
    Sugar 43g48%
    Protein 8g16%
    Calcium 25mg3%
    Iron 2.9mg16%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

     

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    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you Love the Recipe, Please consider rating it using stars in comments! It helps readers and helps more people find the recipe online! I love hearing from you all! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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    1. Monica

      January 14, 2021 at 1:12 pm

      I made this , love everything but the quantity of water . I guess it depends on whether you are looking for the gooey pudding like texture or the more loose texture as in the Maharashtrian shira . I was looking for the latter.
      I made this in the instant pot perhaps the stovetop version would have been better for me.

      Reply
      • Vegan Richa Support

        January 20, 2021 at 8:11 pm

        i’m sorry that it didn’t turn out as you wanted it to. personal preference I suppose

        Reply
      • Richa

        January 21, 2021 at 9:13 am

        Just add kore water and it will be a thinner consistency. That’s the same thing you do in stove top. Adjust water for consistency

        Reply
    2. Moni

      June 25, 2020 at 9:21 pm

      Should we use coarse or fine sooji for this instant pot recipe?

      Reply
    3. Avni Levy

      May 30, 2020 at 6:55 pm

      5 stars
      This turned out great, except that I kept getting the “burn” indication on the IP. Maybe because I used farina instead of semolina? It already seemed done once it had come to pressure, but I added a little more water and oil and tried again (got burn again) — in the end it still came out yummy! Thanks!

      Reply
      • Richa

        May 30, 2020 at 8:36 pm

        It’s the pots. Some heat a little bit more, some heat unevenly. You can wait for the pot to cool for a few mins and then close the lid. Thicker mixtures often have this problem based on the model and their construction changes if any

        Reply
    4. Kalpana

      January 05, 2019 at 11:16 am

      I wnat to use the roasted semolina now abailable in Indian stores. Do I still use the same amount of oil but skip the roasting process or do I need to reduce the oil quantity?

      Thanks

      Reply
      • Richa

        January 05, 2019 at 1:13 pm

        you can use 1 tbsp. Heat the semolina in the oil for half a minute before adding other ingredients, just so the roasted flavor comes out more.

        Reply
    5. Thais Malvezi

      November 21, 2018 at 8:13 am

      Hi there!
      Here in Brazil we have stove top pressure cookers. Can I use it the same way you use the instant pot?

      Reply
      • Richa

        November 22, 2018 at 12:10 am

        yes i have a couple of stove tops too and i use them insterchangeably withthe Instant pot

        Reply
    6. Cassie Thuvan Tran

      October 18, 2018 at 10:18 pm

      This looks phenomenal! I used to eat carrot halwa all the time…it was great and all, but yes, VERY buttery. I definitely love these dairy free alternatives that taste even better!

      Reply
      • Richa

        October 31, 2018 at 11:40 am

        the grain halwas are much lighter

        Reply
    7. Michele Riggi

      October 18, 2018 at 5:48 pm

      Thank you.
      Your ideas and insights are appreciated.
      My husband is vegan. I am just learning to correctly use the herbs and spices. All parts are now out of tune.

      Reply
      • Richa

        October 31, 2018 at 11:39 am

        🧡🧡🧡

        Reply

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