Pineapple Almond Halwa / Sheera – A combination of Sooji and almond flour roasted in ghee then cooked in whole milk with chopped pineapple, sweetened with sugar, and flavored with Taylor & Colledge almond extract and garnished with roasted cashews and golden raisin! Pineapple Almond Halwa – a simple, quick, flavorful, yet delectable dessert!! So tasty and comforting!!
I’ve used whole milk for cooking rava and almond flour but you can also add fat-free or 2% milk. If you are allergic to milk you can cook it in water too. I’ve used fresh pineapple. You can use canned pineapple too but make sure to strain it completely from the juices and then add it because if you don’t stain it, it might curdle up, as the halwa has milk in it. I’ve used saffron strands for flavor and color, as I avoid using artificial colors in my food. It is completely optional. I’ve added about a cup of sugar as I prefer the Halwa to be less sweet but if you want it, even more, sweeter add it according to your taste.
Here goes the recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 /2 cup Rava/sooji
- 1/2 cup Almond flour
- 3 cups of hot whole milk/water
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup of fresh / tinned pineapple chopped fine
- 5 tbsp of ghee
- 1/2 tsp Taylor and Colledge Almond extract
- cashews & golden raisins
- few strands of saffron
- crushed cardamom
Instructions:
- Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a pan, add the nuts, roast them and keep aside.
- To the hot milk add the saffron strands and set aside.
- In the same pan, heat 4 tbsp of ghee, and when it gets hot enough, add sooji and almond flour and fry it over the low flame till the raw flavors are gone.
- Add hot milk ( Do not add cold milk to the sooji, it can form lumps, hence add hot milk ) and mix slowly. Cook until the sooji and almond flour mixture absorbs all the milk. Add sugar, roasted nuts, and Taylor and colledge almond extract , cardamom powder. Mix everything well.
- If you are using fresh pineapple, Cook the pineapple in 1 cup boiling water for a few mins drain, and set aside. Alternatively, you could sauté the pineapple separately for few mins till it changes color and set aside.
- If you are using canned pineapple make sure to strain it completely from the juices and then add it because if you don’t stain it, it might curdle up, as the halwa contains milk. Just chop it up and set it aside.
- Add the pineapple and cook on a slow flame till you find traces of ghee oozing out from the halwa. Switch off the flame. Serve warm with a cup of filter coffee! Enjoy!