Kesari bat or kesari baat ( kn, ಕೇಸರಿ ಬಾತ್) is a sweet Indian food that is common throughout the country. 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 (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, and other regions of

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

. The dish is common in the

cuisine of Karnataka Karnataka cuisine includes the cuisines of the different regions and communities of the Indian state of Karnataka, namely, Uttara Karnataka cuisine, Dakshina Karnataka cuisine, Udupi cuisine, Mangalurean cuisine, Kodava cuisine, Saraswat cu ...

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

Ugadi Ugadi or Yugadi, also known as Samvatsarādi (), is New Year's Day according to the Hindu calendar and is celebrated in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka in India. It is festively observed in these regions on the first ...

. 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 in ...

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

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a 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 regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

and

, 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 originating from the Indian subcontinent, most common in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtrian, and Sri Lankan Tamil breakfast, cooked as a thick porridge from dry-roas ...

'' 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 loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

, it is served as a sweet dish called ''sheera'' or '' suji halwa''. It is much simpler with little or no ghee, no color or saffron in contrast to the actual traditional recipe of

. It is commonly known as ''sheera'' in Marathi/Hindi, ''rava kesari'' in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil, and ''suji halwa'' in North India and Bangladesh.

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 dynasty ...

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 in t ...

. 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