• Heat Ghee in a shallow frying pan (stainless steel, heavy bottom) or wok (carbon steel works well). Do NOT use a non-stick pan for roasting the Sooji. The Sooji grains become hard while being roasted. The constant stirring of these hard granules will scratch and ruin the non-stick coating on your pan.

  If using butter, add the butter, and let it melt and turn into ghee (clarified butter)- this will take only 2-3 minutes because of the small amount of butter.
  
• Add Sooji to the Ghee and roast it, with continuous stirring, on medium heat, until it becomes fragrant and turns a light golden brown.

  Decrease the heat a little and continue to roast, with stirring, until Sooji becomes evenly roasted to a rich golden brown. Be patient, and do not leave Sooji unattended for even a few moments.
  
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• 
• Meanwhile, set the measured quantity of water (or milk-water mixture) to heat to boiling. (stove-top or microwave).
• When Sooji is nicely browned, carefully add a total of 3/4 cup water in 2-3 smaller portions. Be careful: it will sizzle and may splatter when you add the liquid.
  
• Cover and simmer for 3-4 min on low heat. Remove cover, the liquid should be completely absorbed. add raisins at this stage, if using; cover and lower the heat - cook for 4-5 mins. Add the remaining 1/4 cup water, stir, cover and cook again for 2-3 min. Add more hot water if it looks too dry (2-4 tbsp)
  
• Spread the sugar over the surface, and stir. It will immediately start becoming watery. Stir well, cover and simmer for 5-7 min on very low heat. Check after 4-5 min - run a sturdy spatula under the Shira to ensure that it is not starting to stick to the pan and/or burn. If it does look like it is starting to stick, it means that your heat setting was too high. Remove the pan from the cook-top for a couple of min, sprinkle a little water, and continue to cook, on the lowest setting possible, for 4-5 min until it looks moist, but not slurpy.

  Turn heat off, move pan away from the hot stove, and let it rest, covered, for 5-7 min

  Or, transfer the Shira to a microwave safe ceramic or glass bowl, cover and finish cooking in the microwave - about 5 min on 40% power, until it looks moist, but not slurpy.

  Note:

  Please do NOT use a plastic bowl, even if it says microwave-safe- because of the high sugar and fat content of the Shira, it is not suitable for cooking in plastic containers.
  
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• Meanwhile, prepare the cardamom, nutmeg and/or saffron.

  Peel the cardamom, collect the seeds and crush/grind them in a mortar and pestle. if you don't have a mortar and pestle, make an envelope-like packet with the seeds and pound/roll firmly with a rolling pin to crush the seeds.

  Grate a little bit of a whole nutmeg using a fine grater/shredder. Grate only as much as needed. Save the remaining piece in a Ziploc bag in a dark bottle.

  Crumble the strands of saffron into 1-2 tsp warm milk in a small bowl. In a few min, the color and flavor of the saffron will be released into the milk, which will turn a bright orange-yellow.
• Prepare the nuts, if using:

  Almonds: Toast lightly in a dry frying pan - 1-2 min on medium heat. until lightly browned and fragrant.

  Cashews: Add 1/4 tsp of Ghee to a small wok and fry the cashew pieces/halves for 2-3 min until golden and fragrant.

  Walnuts: Chop the walnuts to a coarse crumbs I generally do not toast the walnuts, but you can, if you wish, for just 1-2 min.
  
• Scatter half the cardamom, most of the nutmeg and all the saffron, if using, on the Shira. combine the remaining cardamom and nutmeg - save for garnishing the Shira after it is transferred to the serving bowl/platter. Likewise, scatter half of the nuts, saving a few for garnish. Stir a little to mix everythig..
  
• Serve, piping hot, garnished with the reserved cardamom, nutmeg, raisins and nuts. Put out a small bowl of sweet and spicy lemon pickle.
  
• Enjoy!

Microwave directions: if you do not have a pan/wok suitable for stove-top roasting (pictures show Shira made with 2 tbsp Sooji, in a cereal bowl)

• Melt butter in a 2 quart glass/ceramic microwave-safe bowl. Do NOT use a plastic bowl.

  Add Sooji, stir and microwave on hi for 1 min. stir and repeat2-3 times. you will begin to see the the Sooji beginning to brown at the center. Continue to heat on hi for 20-30 seconds at a time until it becomes a rich golden brown. will take about 10 min to get it evenly browned.
  
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• Meanwhile, heat 1 1/4 cup water to boiling. Add it carefully to the roasted Sooji - it will sizzle. Stir, cover and microwave on medium power ( 40 %) for 3-4 min. Add raisins,if using, stir and continue to cook, covered, on 40% power for another 3-4 min..All the water will be fully absorbed.
  
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• Add the sugar. Stir- it will become watery. Cover and microwave for 6-7 min at 30% power. Stir it and ....It's done!
  
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• Garnish as described above, for the stove-top directions.