Pineapple Kesari Bhat| Pineapple Rava Kesari

Celebrations are in order!

The Foodie Monday Blog Hop group that I am part of has turned 200! Quite a big achievement this is, #200NotOut, an occasion that warrants a special recipe. So, here’s presenting to you – Pineapple Kesari Bhat aka Pineapple Sheera or Pineapple Rava Kesari.

I’m sure you guys would have noticed me presenting a new recipe every Monday, based on a certain theme. Well, that’s the way the Foodie Monday Blog Hop works. I joined the group when the group had just reached the milestone of 100 weeks, and have absolutely loved journeying with the other fellow foodies in the group, this far.

The Foodie Monday Blog Hop bloggers surely are a talented bunch, and we have creative themes coming up every week. Over the years, we have talked, discussed, shared ideas, suggested tips and tricks, exchanged recipes, critiqued, met and shared food, bonded. And through it all, I have grown.

The group has stretched my horizons, helped me better my cooking from different cuisines around the world. My photography has definitely improved, from where I started out from. I structure my posts better now, and this group has played an important role in that. Learnings – big and small – have been manifold.

For the 200th episode of the Foodie Monday Blog Hop, we members decided to cook from each other’s blogs. I was assigned Renu’s blog, Cook With Renu, which is a beautiful collection of many recipes from around the world. Several interesting bakes feature therein as well. I chose this recipe to recreate from her blog, because all of us at home love Pineapple Kesari Bhat to bits, including the bub.

Pineapple Kesari Bhat is a version of sheera redolent of ghee and fruit that you will come across in several restaurants across Bangalore. I have also encountered it at a few places in Madras, and have been served this sweet treat during meals at weddings and other festive occasions. It surely is a gorgeous thing, something you must definitely try out, especially so if you love pineapple.

Let’s now check out how I made the Pineapple Kesari Bhat, with a few variations to Renu’s recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1. 3/4 cup fine rava (sooji or semolina)
2. 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons of ghee
3. 1 tablespoon raisins
4. 10-12 cashewnuts
5. 1-1/2 cups water
6. 3/4 cup sugar
7. 1 heaped cup chopped pineapple, cores and thorns removed

Method:

1. Grind the pineapple pieces to a coarse puree, in a mixer. Keep aside.

2. Chop up the cashewnuts roughly. Keep aside.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons ghee in a pan. Add the rava to the pan. Roast the rava, keeping the flame medium, till it attains a consistency like wet sand and becomes fragrant. This should take 1-2 minutes. Take care to ensure that the rava does not burn.

4. Transfer the roasted rava to a plate. Keep aside.

5. Heat the water in the same pan, on high flame, till it reaches boiling point.

6. Now, turn the heat down to medium and add the roasted rava to the pan, a little at a time. Stir constantly, to avoid lumps forming.

7. Add the sugar to the pan, along with the pineapple puree. Mix well. Let the mixture cook on medium heat for about 2 minutes or till it starts to thicken. Stir intermittently.

8. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of ghee in another pan. Add the cashewnuts and raisins to the ghee. Fry on low heat till the raisins plump up and the cashewnuts brown. Take care to ensure that they do not burn. Add the ghee along with the fried cashewnuts and raisins to the mixture in the other pan. Mix well.

9. When the mixture has thickened up but is still a bit runny, switch off the gas. The Pineapple Kesari Bhat thickens further on cooling. Serve the kesari hot or at room temperature.

Notes:

1. Use a ripe, juicy, sweet pineapple for best results. However, make sure it is not overly ripe.

2. Make sure all the cores and thorns from the pineapple are removed, before using it in the sheera.

3. Grinding the chopped pineapple coarsely ensures that you get little bits and pieces of the fruit in your mouth while eating. Considering everyone in my family loves that, I keep the puree coarse. However, you may puree it smoothly too if you so prefer.

4. Use fine sooji or rava in this Pineapple Kesari Bhat recipe, for best results.

5. Use good-quality ghee, adjusting the quantity as per personal taste preferences. The above quantity of ghee worked out just perfectly for us.

6. Adjust the quantity of water, depending upon how runny you want the Pineapple Rava Kesari to be. You can also cook the kesari in a mix of milk and water.

7. I have used raisins and cashewnuts in this Pineapple Rava Kesari. You may even add in almonds.

8. Make sure you are stirring constantly while adding the roasted rava to the boiling water in the pan. This is important to ensure that there are no lumps.

9. The Pineapple Rava Kesari thickens on cooling, so make sure you switch off the flame while it is still on the runnier side.

10. Food colour is sometimes added to Pineapple Rava Kesari to give it a pretty golden yellow or orange hue. I haven’t used any here.

11. Jaggery can be used in place of sugar here, but it alters the taste of the dish. I like this version with sugar, as does everyone else in my family, so I prefer this. And it’s a once-in-a-while indulgence anyway.

12. It is not uncommon to add a pinch of salt or a few cloves to kesari, too stop the sweetness from getting too overwhelming. I don’t use these.

I hope you will try out this recipe! Do share your feedback, in your comments.

***********

I’m linking this recipe to Fiesta Friday #281. Do hop over to see the other interesting recipes there!