Pineapple Kesari, a delicious sweet made from semolina and pineapples. It's one of the famous sweets that's usually served in the South Indian marriage feast. 

The pineapple gives such a nice aroma to this kesari and truly elevates the taste of the kesari to the next level. This recipe is so similar to the regular kesari recipe just with the addition of pineapple. So you can make this very quickly for any occasion. I'm sure that your family and friends go on praising you for making this yummy sweet.

Pineapple

Pineapple is the key to this kesari so make sure to use well ripened and sweet pineapple. Here in the recipe, i have used fresh pineapples. But you can also use canned pineapples. 

While using fresh pineapples, make sure to remove all the eyes of the pineapple(a tiny thorn in the pineapple which gives itchiness in the tongue)

If you're using canned pineapple, use only pineapples and leave out the juice.

My pineapples are very sweet so i used 3/4 cup of sugar for 1/2 cup of rava. If the pineapples are less sweet, you may need a couple of tbsp of more sugar.

Finally, don't use the sour pineapples, it won't taste good  and ruins the whole recipe.

Related: How to make Pineapple raita

Water

For any kesari recipe,  the water quantity is very important to get that perfect texture. In general, 2 to 2.5 cups of water is needed for 1 cup of rava to get that soft and well cooked kesari depending on the rava quality.

Adding too much water makes the kesari sticky and slimy. And too little water makes it undercooked.

Therefore, when boiling the water, don't let it boil for a long time because some of the water evaporates and it affects water and rava ratio . So turn off the heat when the water comes to vigorous boil and pour that immediately into the roasted rava. 

How to avoid lumps in the kesari ? 

This is one of the common questions from the beginners while preparing the kesari. Here is my tip that i learned from my Amma. 

Make sure that both the rava and water are hot when they are mixed together. That way, there won't be any lumps in the kesari.

Hence you have to roast the rava and boil the water side by side at the same time. So that when the rava is well roasted, the hot water would be ready to pour. 

If you haven't tried this way of making kesari, do give it a try and i'm sure that there won't be any lumps. I have been following this method ever since i started cooking and so far, i never had any lumps in my kesari :-)

Ok, now let's check out on how to make delicious pineapple kesari.

 

Pineapple Kesari | Pineapple Sheera

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 4 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Pineapple Kesari, Pineapple sheera Pineapple Kesari, a delicious sweet made from semolina and pineapples. It's one of the famous sweets that's usually served in the South Indian marriage feast.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Ravai/ Rava / Semolina - 1/2 cup

Pineapple(finely chopped) - 1/2 cup(heaped)

Sugar - 3/4 cup*

Ghee - 2 & 1/2 tbsp

Cashew - 8 to 10 

Water - 2 & 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp(optional)

Yellow Food Color - a few drops(optional)

*For more sweetness, you can use up to 1 cup of sugar.

Procedure

First in a saucepan, add the pineapple, sugar & mix it well. Keep it aside for 10 mins.

After 10 mins, the sugar starts to melt a bit. Now add the water, mix it well and place the sauce pan in the heat and bring to boil.

In the meantime, heat 2 tbsp of ghee in another pan, add the cashews, roast the cashews for about 1 min.

Keep the heat in medium and then add the rava, roast the rava in the ghee until it's very aromatic.

By the time the rava is well roasted, the water should also come to a boil. Add a few drops of food color(if you're using)  to the water and then pour the hot water into the rava(keep the rava at the lowest possible heat.). It splatter a lot, so be careful. 

Once all the water is poured, give a gentle mix and then cover it with a lid for about 2 mins.

Now, the rava would be  well cooked , add the cardamom powder(if you're using) and the remaining 1/2 tbsp ghee on the top. Switch off the flame and keep it covered for 2 mins.

Delicious Pineapple Kesari is ready to serve. 

Related: How to make Paal Kesari / Milk Kesari 

Notes

• It tastes great after a few hours of making so that the pineapple flavor is well infused in the kesari and give such a nice flavor and taste.
• Adding more sugar gives the glossy texture to the kesari. You can add up to 1 cup of sugar for 1/2 cup of rava. However i find that 3/4 cup of sugar is just enough sweetness without overpowering.