GUAVA CHEESE

Guava Cheese is a delicacy which is prepared with the pulp of the ripe Guavas.   It’s a delightful addition to the Kuswar (Christmas sweets) and is loved by all.

Patience plays a major role in preparing this sweet and its rewarding too.  The total preparation time is more than 3 hours and has to be cooked on very slow flames for the best results.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Kilo Guava Pulp 
• (Makes about 5 cups of pulp)
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 Lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon Butter

Method:

Wash the Guavas and steam for about 20 minutes in a steamer.

When the guavas turn soft, cool them and slit in the middle to separate the seeds from the other fleshy parts.

The seeded portion must  be put in a sieve and pressed with a spoon to extract the pulp from it.  Blend  all the pulp together in a liquidiser, into a smooth puree using little water (say ½ cup).

Once the Puree is ready, pour it into a sieve or a muslin cloth inorder to filter out all the seed remains.

Transfer the pulp to a vessel with a heavy bottom (I used the pressure cooker vessel) add the sugar to it.  Place it on the stove on a low flame and keep stirring.

Initially stir every 5 minutes.  Once it gets thickened, it should be stirred more frequently, so that the pulp does not get stuck to the bottom of the vessel.

Add the lime juice half way through and keep stirring.

The colour of the pulp turns to orange red.

Keep stirring until it gets the dark red colour that you can see in the image below.

It takes nearly 3 hours until the mixture turns thicker and start leaving the edges of the vessel.

Grease a square/rectangular (8 or 10 inches tray) and pour the thick mixture into it.

Spread it evenly.  It will be two hours when it cools down and ready to cut into pieces of one’s choice.

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