Just a quick little post here about kesari. I guess I’m on a bit of an Indian theme lately….

Back in 2005, I spent three weeks touring India. Several times on that journey, I encountered a ridiculously sweet and ridiculously delicious dessert. It was as thick as a porridge, buttery smooth, and thoroughly spiced with cardamon. Just about every place I found this dish, it had plump raisins mixed in, and about half the time cashews or some other kind of nut as well.

The dish, it turns out, is called kesari; traditionally, it is made from rava, or farina wheat. If you are looking for rava at your local supermarket, take a stroll down your breakfast cereal aisle. Any brand of that creamy, hot wheat cereal will do just fine.

I played around with this recipe a few times: sometimes adding saffron, sometimes not; sometimes using pistachios, sometimes no nuts at all. Whatever version you try, though, be forewarned. This is not a dessert to eat in big batches! A small portion goes a long way.

So, why am I telling you about kesari this morning? Because I’ve just submitted my very first “Food52” contest recipe. It’s a variation on kesari–vanilla extract in place of cardamon, and egg yolks instead of all that butter. It’s a nice dish; still quite sweet, but not so heavy. If you want to see the recipe, you can find it listed in the Book 2 Week 26 contest.

Oh, and while you’re there, feel free to “like” it, ok?