Thari Kanji is a light, sweet Malabar drink made from a little roasted semolina (thari/rava) cooked in milk and coconut milk with sugar and cardamom, topped with ghee-fried shallots, cashews and raisins. It's served hot to break the Ramadan fast and is said to settle the stomach gently before the main meal.

Is Thari Kanji a drink or a porridge?

It sits between the two - made with only a little semolina, it's thin enough to drink from a glass but warming and lightly thickened. Use more semolina for a thicker porridge, less for a drink.

Why fry shallots into a sweet drink?

The ghee-fried shallots add a savoury-sweet depth that's characteristic of Malabar sweets (the same idea as in Kalathappam). It's traditional - but you can leave them out and keep just the cashews and raisins if you prefer.

Can I make Thari Kanji vegan?

Yes - use all coconut milk in place of dairy milk and coconut oil in place of ghee. The flavour shifts a little but it works well.

Thari Kanji recipe (Malabar sweet semolina drink)

The gentle start to iftar

Thari Kanji is designed to be the first thing you drink after a day’s fast - warm, lightly sweet, easy on an empty stomach. Keep it thin and don’t over-boil it once the coconut milk is in. It belongs to the same Ramadan iftar table as Kozhi Ada and Sukhiyan.

The recipe