Sindhi Seero

Before you start

• Bring the water, milk and sugar to a boil in a separate pan and keep it simmering. The syrup must be hot when it meets the rava or the halwa turns lumpy.
• Sliver the almonds and have the cardamom crushed before you start roasting. Once the rava is in the ghee you cannot step away.
• Use a heavy kadhai. Thin pans scorch the rava on one side while the rest is still pale.

Method

1. Bring the water, milk and sugar to a boil in a saucepan, stir until the sugar dissolves, and keep it on the lowest heat.
2. Melt the ghee in a heavy kadhai over low heat and fry the raisins for 30 seconds until they puff, then lift them out.
3. Fry the slivered almonds in the same ghee for 1 minute until pale gold, and lift them out too.
4. Add the rava to the ghee and roast over low-medium heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring constantly.Go by smell and colour: it should turn the shade of wet sand and smell toasted, like biscuits. This is the whole flavour of the dish.
5. Add the pinch of salt and the crushed cardamom and stir for 30 seconds.
6. Take the kadhai off the heat and pour in the hot syrup in a steady stream, stirring hard with your other hand.Off the heat and pouring slowly. It will spit violently. Stand back and keep the spoon moving or it will seize into lumps.
7. Return to low heat and cook 6-8 minutes, stirring, until the rava has drunk all the liquid and the mass pulls cleanly away from the sides of the pan.
8. Stir in most of the fried almonds and raisins, keeping some back.
9. Cover and rest off the heat for 5 minutes so the grains swell and soften fully.Skipping this rest leaves a faintly gritty seero. It costs five minutes.
10. Fluff with a fork, scatter the reserved nuts and raisins, and serve warm.

Storage

Keeps 3 days refrigerated. It firms up solid when cold. Reheat portions covered with 1 tbsp milk, or steam for 5 minutes to bring back the soft texture.