Rava cake/barfi

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I am kinda going on a rava spree, after the rava laddoos it's time for rava cake - my pre diwali adventure! Here's my mom's recipe for "rava cake".

Ingredients

Ghee - 1 cup
Rava - 1 cup
Coconut - 1 cup
Milk - 3 cups
Sugar - 5 cups (I did about 2.5-3 cups, you can always add later according to taste)
Cardamom - 10, peeled and coarsely powdered
Saffron - 2 pinches
Roasted cashews - you can either slice them into two and place one on each barfi (or) break them into small piece and mix it in the kadhai


Heat kadhai on medium heat and add the ghee, rava, coconut, milk and sugar. Mix well and let it boil, stirring occasionally. Keep mixing till the sugar has dissolved and the entire mix comes together and leaves the sides of the kadhai. In the meantime, prepare your dish (see note) - make sure its dry and then lightly brush some ghee on the base and on the sides as well. When the mixture is well done take it out and pour it in your dish. After about 5-10 minutes (when it's warm), you should be able to make rough cuts with a knife. Let it cool down before you can completely cut out your barfis.

Notes:

• What I found difficult was deciding when to take the mixture off the stove. You have to wait till all the ghee is completely absorbed (make sure the ghee is not floating on the sides) and the entire mixture comes together as a mass following your stirring spoon.
  

• The first time I made this cake, I made half the quantity. I took the mixture off the stove after about 15 minutes but they were gooey. Again, I was not able to make the lines with a knife. That was my clue, I took it out way too early. But the best thing about this recipe is it's very forgiving. So, you can reheat it. You can put it back in the kadhai or simply heat it in the microwave (but in installments, as it melts check on it every 1 minute). So, my rough calculation for this recipe, at least for 1/2 the quantity, it takes at least 25-30 minutes on the kadhai for the perfect barfis.

• I used a 6 cup pyrex dish. You can either use one dish (yields 18 barfis) or two dishes for thinner barfis.