The Good of Grain-Rawa Kela Aur Gur ki Mithai

Semolina, Banana  and Jaggery Dessert

It is a little worrying to note that the government does not seem to be paying as much attention to promoting the continued cultivation of grains. Horticulture and other, newer, agricultural initiatives are capturing the subsidies and are invariably the chosen ones in projects promoted by state and central governments.But these are not essential to a poor country. China produced more than twice the amount of food grains we did last year. Even if we take the stipulated minimum of 500 grams of grains a day per person , at present, we do not have enough to sustain our vast population for more than a day in case of any disaster. Because we do not produce enough, one reason being the inadequate management of soil, grain still remains comparatively expensive for those living below the poverty line.

Grains will always form a large part of the main meal in a poor country. It is imperative that India uses its vast land resources by bringing additional land under cultivation.Not only that but if those grains were also rich in minerals and vitamins, grains like jowar, bajra and ragi, we would not see the kind of malnutrition we see  on a large scale in Africa. GM crops have not returned the benefits of better health as was hoped.

Till at least thirty years ago wheat and rice and semolina were used in so many foods. Rawa / Suji or semolina is made by soaking wheat grain in water for several hours .It is then spread out to dry a bit before being ground and winnowed.The coarse grits produced in this manner is called rawa.

Chakki- Stone Grinder

Years ago several houses had their own chakki for grinding.
In a few places wheat is still ground in a chakki,two humungous cylindrical stones, in this case, granite,. The lower cylinder is stationary, while the top one is moved , the wheat being poured into the circle on the side to spread out between the two stone layers and ground.This one may have been used domestically , the women of the house grinding the wheat. A chakki of this size would be handled by two women. Larger chakki's were rotated with the help of cows or a camel.
In Punjab, this type of a chakki , operated with the help of animals is called a kharas. A grinder  run with the aid of a water wheel is called a gharat. The latter is more common in the far north,  in the foothills of the Himalayas.
By the beginning of the twentieth century in India, wheat grinding became more mechanised with oil engines.By the late 1940's one third of all chakkis in Punjab ( the main wheat growing belt ) were power driven. And today most people buy packaged ready ground wheat from commercial mills. Till just a few years ago we bought the whole grain, picked out stones and chaff and other extraneous material , washed and dried it in the sun, and then sent it , a few kilos at a time, to the local flour grinding mill. It meant that each family could decide how much bran to keep in the wheat flour.Chapathies tasted different in each household, with varying textures and thicknesses. In small towns and villages this is still the case.

Rawa is as much used in the South for upma and home made sweets and in the north mainly for halwa.I have a huge, old  collection of rawa recipes,  many of them sweets, which could do with a revival as it is a healthy alternative to expensive milk and refined sugar sweets which have become so popular today. Look out for more rawa recipes soon.

Rawa Kela Aur Gur Ki Mithai/ Semolina, Banana, Jaggery Dessert

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup rawa / semolina
3 bananas
3/4 cup gur / jaggery.
1 1/2 cup coconut milk made from 1/2 fresh coconut , chopped.(you can use ready packaged coconut milk as well, or plain milk with a drop of vanilla if you cannot get coconut milk)
2 tbsp. ghee or butter
A pinch of salt.

Extract the coconut milk by pureeing the pieces in a blender along with 1 and a half cups of hot water. Strain the pulp through a sieve to make thick coconut milk. Make a smooth puree of the bananas and jaggery in a blender. Heat the ghee in a kadhai and fry the semolina, stirring constantly on low heat till it turns an even, light brown.About 8 minutes. Add the banana and jaggery puree and stir a couple of times.Turn off the heat. Now add the coconut milk and mix well.

Pour mixture into steamer

Grease a heat proof shallow dish, plate or steel thali. Pour the mixture into the dish and steam covered for 25 minutes.This can be done in a steamer or a pressure cooker without the weight on. It may take less time in a cooker- probably about 10-15 minutes.The mixture absorbs all the liquid and becomes dry on the surface.

Turn out on to plate

and cut into cubes.

Serve hot or cold.
This will keep for several days if  refrigerated.

2/12/2006

Comments

[Puspha]

Hi
This dessert looks so very tempting. I´ve added it into my to do list.

[flygirl]

Hi,

Nice post. I look forward to seeing more rawa recipes, it sounds like you have a treasure trove! I'm always on the lookout for old family recipes.

[BDSN]

Hi...
Wow the picture looks so tempting..Wish i can pick up one and taste it..I would lov to try bcoz i got all the ing for it..

[deccanheffalump]

Hi BSDN, flygirl and Pushpa,
It did turn out well even if I say so myself and its keeping well too!

[Sonali]

The pic looks absolutely YUMMY...wish I could grab a piece from the screen...slurp....:)

[mika]

Delicious sweet! It resembles tamil kesari. I will have to try this version. Thanks for the recipe.

[AA]

This is a wonderful recipe. I have recently been working towards cutting calories and my incurable sweet tooth just does not help!!
I have also been looking at rawa more closely, to see what I can do with it...would love to have a "rawa series" from you.
Also, thank you for making me think about steaming as an option for cooking sweets. It has really set my creative juices flowing, and my mind ticking about the possibilities.

[Darshini]

WHat type of Banana did you use?! amaaazing piks by the way!

[Viji]

This is something interesting and new for me. Will give a try sometime later. Tks for sharing. Viji

[Nupur]

Thank you for a wonderful post! I have always wondered if rava is a whole-grain food, or is it refined, like maida is. Your post tells me that it is indeed made from whole wheat. Do you know if the store-bought rava is made from whole wheat too? Or is the fine rava a refined product? Thanks a lot!

[Rajani]

Hi,
I have tasted this halwa at my friend's place. It tasted really good. By seeing your post, it reminded of her. Thanks for your recipe.

cheers
rajani

[deccanheffalump]

HI Viji, Nupur, Rajani,
Thanks for your comments. Nupur as far as I know even store bought rava is made from whole wheat but I am going to have to check this out. Will let you know soon.

[SBT]

Yummy! I love trying new recipes and I really enjoy reading your blog. BTW, do you know what daliya is? (sorry I don't know how to spell it.) My family is North Indian and we would have daliya (hot, sweet, with milk) for breakfast. Is it semolina?
I look forward to reading more of your posts!

[Latha]

I tried this fabulous recipe with soymilk (vanilla-flavoured, left-over in the fridge). Is this a traditional sweet? Must try with jack-fruit and coconut milk. I look forward to more recipes with rawa... i only make uppuma and occasionally dosa with it (ofcourse, kesari too!).

[ASHA]

Hi,
I HAVE BOOKMARKED THIS .Wanted to know if i can use any other fruit other than banana.

[deccanheffalump]

SBT, semolina is not daliya. Daliya is broken wheat grains.
Latha thanks for your comments.Your suggestions sound tasty. Asha I haven't tried it with other fruit but I am sure mashed apple or mashed any fruit would do. Not too watery though. I'd steam the fruit , drain it of any extra juice, through a fine sieve or muslin and then add it to the mixture. Good luck and let me know how it turns out.

[Mystic]

Steamed dessert!! This looks great. I have to try this sometime.

I was looking for nankhatai recipe. This website (http://www.apnakarachi.com/is/ShowRecipe.aspx?isid=181&sid=4)seemed has copied your recipe AND your picture. Just wanted to let you know.

[santhi]

hiii..just came across your blog...amazing recipe..and very healthy too..a must-try..:-)

[mandira]

This looks delicious, such a beautiful texture.. love the pictures.

[yogi]

I thought it is blatantly obvious that modernism & industrialisation is bound to swallow all of Nature & alter it to the benefit of the "System" & not for humans as such. So there's no point in little worrying or more worrying.

Another point is that grains are not as significant as are fruits & vegetables.

And hmm it is not so much the question of poverty, rather it is the definition of poverty. Who is poor - we city rats who live in crowded conditions breathing foul air & unnatural food? Actually we also try to corrupt the poor countryfolks by bombarding them with our city way of life & thus wrecking their peace by making them want something which is useless.
:-)

[nandita]

Hey Jyotsana,
Tried this in the morning, my hawkins too narrow to steam the whole thing at one go, so I hesitantly used the microwave, and in 7-8 minutes it was perfectly done. Just added a pinch of cardamom powder too plus 1/2 tsp baking powder.
Tastes wonderful

[SMJ]

Loved to know that there are indians who love traditional ways of cooking.I personally hate using white sugar in any recipe.I even use palm sugar in my tea.Your recipe looks delicious.makes me want to pick up a piece from the screen.I too was searching on the web to know whether rava was whole wheat or not.Not too sure yet.Please post other traditional recipes.Thank you.