Kesari bat or kesari baat () is a South Indian dessert. The classic ingredients used for its preparation are semolina, sugar, ghee (usually), water, and milk. The sweet is more commonly known as Jonnadula Halwa in certain parts of northern India. The precise composition of ''kesari bath'' varies regionally depending on the availability of ingredients. The dish might be prepared with pineapple, banana, mango, coconut, or rice. Claims to the origin of the dish are made by

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. The dish is common in the

cuisine of Karnataka Dating back to the Iron Age, Karnataka’s cuisine is said to be one of the oldest surviving in the country. Karnataka cuisine includes the cuisines of the different regions and communities of the Indian state of Karnataka, namely, Uttara Karn ...

as well as of multiple regions in South India and is a popular dish during festivals such as

Ugadi () or (), also known as Samvatsarādi (), is the first day of the year on the Hindu calendar that is traditionally celebrated by the Telugu people and the Kannadigas in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Na ...

. The word ''kesari'' in multiple Indian languages refers to the spice

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of '' Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent ...

which creates the dish's saffron-orange-yellow-colored tinge. Though it is a sweet dish, in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, it is prepared not only as a dessert but also for normal breakfasts. It is also served with ''

uppittu Upma, uppumavu, or uppittu is a dish of thick porridge from dry-roasted semolina or coarse rice flour. Upma originated from Southern India, is most common in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana. Of ...

'' or ''khara bath'', and a serving of both dishes on one plate is popularly called "chow chow ''bath''". In

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

, it is served as a sweet dish called ''

suji halwa Suji may refer to: Food * Suji, a Japanese dish made from tendons; see tendon as food * The South Asian name for semolina, a food ingredient People * Su-ji, a Korean given name (and a list of people with various English spellings of the name) * ...

'', suji being the Hindi word for semolina. It uses similar ingredients to kesari baat such as ghee, sugar, semolina and water. Nuts and raisins are often added, and sometimes saffron may also be added.

History

The dish is listed as ''shali-anna'' in

Manasollasa The ' also known as ''Abhilashitartha Chintamani'', is an early 12th-century Sanskrit text composed by the Kalyani Chalukya king Someshvara III, who ruled in present-day Karnataka. It is an encyclopedic work covering topics such as polity, gove ...

, a 12th-century work by the

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

king

Someshvara III Someshvara III (; ) was a Western Chalukya king (also known as the Kalyani Chalukyas), the son and successor of Vikramaditya VI. He ascended the throne of the Western Chalukya Kingdom in 1126 CE, or 1127 CE. Someshvara III, the third king i ...

. Chow chow bath ( khara bath & kesari bath ).jpg, Chow chow ''bath'', a common breakfast in

, consists of one serving of the spicy khara bat and another of a sweet kesari bath. Kesari_Bath_(5832083727).jpg, Kesari bath is traditionally served on a banana leaf in Southern India. File:Kesari Bhath.jpg, Typical Karnataka style lemon coloured Kesari bhath with cashew nuts

References

External links

{{commons category, Kesari Indian desserts