Raisin Halwa, Vivek style

Ingredients

1 stick butter
12 fluid ounces of milk
12 fluid ounces of sugar
12 fluid ounces of cream of wheat (sooji)
1 teaspoon cardamom or other spices (optional)
1 handful raisins or dried berries (cranberries are good)
- OR -
1 small banana, sliced

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, throw in the stick of butter and spices. Cook over medium-high heat until the butter melts and all the water boils off. At this point, the butter will pretty much stop boiling. All this time, the spices will be cooking in the butter, infusing it with flavor. Continue cooking the butter until it slightly browns. This adds a nutty flavor.

At this point, quickly stir in all of the cream of wheat, and roast the mixture in the pan. You might need to reduce the heat to medium, since this mixture tends to stick to the bottom of the pan. Constantly stir to prevent burning.

As the mixture roasts, the cream of wheat will turn browner. This enhances the flavor, but can take a few minutes. The longer you roast the cream of wheat, the better the result.

Once you have gotten tired of stirring, cautiously add the milk. Stir quickly to spread the milk throughout the cream of wheat. Most of the milk will appear to boil off immediately, but it will actually have been absorbed by the sooji. Stir for a minute or so, making sure the sooji does not burn.

At this point, add in the sugar and stir some more. The sugar will draw the milk back out, and the resulting mixture will be thick and have a glaze. At this point, mix in whatever fruit you have to the mixture. The consistency of the mixture will be somewhere between that of jelly and peanut butter.

Take the pan off the stove, cover it, and let it cool for about 30 minutes. Once it hardens a bit, it's ready to eat. Serve warm, no garnishing necessary. Enjoy.