Few basic ingredients go into the making of Guava cheese i.e guava, sugar, lemon juice & butter. The short list of ingredients is compensated for the lengthy procedure. But that end result definitely makes it worth the effort. These will disappear faster than the total time it will take you to prepare them. At least I can easily gobble 4-5 in one go 😀 They are extremely addictive. I meant to share this recipe last Christmas. But I couldn’t find fresh guava’s here. Since my Mum-in-law was here, last Christmas, I thought I’d learn and document the recipe. Now she has only made this with fresh guavas, so it was definitely going to be a hit or miss. Somehow her tried and tested recipe did not work with the readymade pulp. This guava cheese | perad is quite similar in texture to the guava paste also known as guayabate I’ve seen here in the US, but it doesn’t taste the same. Although, after looking up online, I found that it’s made with the same ingredients. I’m not sure why it still doesn’t taste like the guava cheese I’ve had back home. Probably the taste of guava itself differs, just a guess!
This time I spotted tiny guavas at Walmart, and the first thing that came to my mind was Guava cheese. It’s been a while I last had some guavas. I simply love eating guava fruit with some salt and red chilli powder, and I’m sure you would relate with me if you enjoy eating guavas that way! I just picked up that box out of impulse and set to make this at 11 pm in the night. Talk about obsession! And imagine my delight, when I saw that beautifully set guava cheese with a beautiful smooth finish, in the morning, I was on cloud 9!! I couldn’t help but taste a small piece of all my late night hard work. It was perfect, and just melted in the mouth, not overly chewy! Just as we like it 🙂 Yay!! I’m glad to strike off of one more thing from my never-ending but rather increasing to-do list! 🙂
I’m sharing this guava cheese | perad with my blogger friend Priti@My pinch of yum for her “COLLECTIVE FOR CHRISTMAS”. Priti is yet another of the few bloggers with whom I happened to connect during my initial days of blogging! Do stop by her blog to check out the deliciousness she shares. If you would like to contribute for her Christmas collective (share posts related to Xmas or Party Recipes, Vegan/Gluten-free Recipes, Cakes, DIY, Party/Menu Planning, Gift Ideas, Travel, Crafts and Activities), please click here to know how you can share your creations.
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THESE TRADITIONAL GOAN CHRISTMAS SWEET RECIPES TOO
Rich Christmas fruit cake Goan Baath cake No cook & egg-free marzipan Any much more here.
And now, let’s see how to prepare Guava cheese | Perad 🙂
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE GUAVA CHEESE | PERAD
1.Wash the guavas well. Heat water in a large pot, once it comes to a boil, add the guavas. Cook until the guavas are tender, drain the water in a bowl and reserve it for further use. Once the guavas are warm enough to handle, peel as much of the skin as you can & scoop out the seeds.
2.Boil the seeds with 1/2 cup of the reserved water.
3.Pass the guava’s through a fine mesh sieve, collect the pulp in a bowl. You may also puree and then pass it through the sieve.
4.Also, pass the seeds boiled in water through the fine mesh sieve and collect the extract in the bowl containing the guava pulp. Weigh out the total pulp. You will need exactly the same amount of sugar or slightly more if the guavas are not very sweet. I had a total yield of 300 grams (1 & 1/2 cup guava pulp), and so have used 300 grams sugar.
5.In a dry pot , add the guava pulp and the sugar. Stir on medium heat to prevent it from burning at the bottom. Use a long wooden handle preferably to make stirring easier.
6.After about 10 minutes, the mixture will start bubbling, add in the lemon juice and continue stirring. If it bubbles vigorously then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring.
7.After another 10-15 minutes of stirring the mixture will have reduced and will begin to thicken. Add butter and the food color, and keep stirring till the mixture leaves the edges of the pan or when you scrape the mixture at the bottom, it stays apart for few seconds.
8.To test: Keep a bowl of ice cold water ready, take a little mixture and transfer it to the water, try to form a ball. If you can, it is done.
9.Remove from the heat and immediately transfer to a well-greased plate or tin. Smooth it out on top. Leave it to cool and set at room temperature for 6-8 hours. Cut into desired pieces and store in an airtight container. I got a total of 20 pieces of perad with a 1/2 inch thickness. You can reduce the thickness to 1/4 inch and get double the yield.
HOW TO MAKE GUAVA CHEESE | PERAD?
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