Quinoa Pineapple Kesari – Pineapple Kesari recipe – Quinoa Kesari

Kesari Bhat is a popular and easy sweet dish from Karnataka. It is one of the easiest of all sweet preparations and its like every festive or special occasion will have this under the menu. Traditionally rava / semolina is used to make this dish… sometimes paired with fruits and nuts. Today I’m sharing the same recipe but made with much healthy grain called Quinoa. It just taste heavenly, much tastier when said healthy…. your guests may wonder and may go crazy thinking what she put in 😛 and will definitely ask for second serve!

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How to cook Quinoa? First rinse the quinoa in cold water using a fine mesh to remove all dirt.

1.If using stove top method – bring 1 cup of water to a rolling boil and add 1/4 cup of quinoa. Reduce the flame to low, cover the pan and cook the quinoa for 25 minutes. Once done, let it rest a few minutes and then fluff with a fork.

2. If using pressure cooker – For 1/4 cup quinoa use 3/4 cup water and pressure cook upto 2 whistles.

3. If using timed electric cooker – For 1/4 cup quinoa use 3/4 cup water and cook upto 1 hour.

4. If using regular electric rice cooker – For 1/4 cup quinoa use 1 cup water. This usually cooks in 25 to 30 minutes.

Heat 1 teaspoon ghee in a pan/ kadai and fry cashews till golden. (Raisin can be added at this stage along with cashews but I personally don’t prefer raisins for this recipe, as there’s already a fruit included and adding raisins makes it odd with pineapple chunks while eating, choose if you like it that way.) Remove the roasted cashews along with the ghee ad keep it aside.

Core the pineapple and cut them into small chunks and keep it ready, retain the juice from the fruit which can also be used along with the pieces. Heat 1 cup of water with 1 cup pineapple chunks and bring it a rolling boil. Then reduce the flame to medium and cook for 5 minutes or until they look lightly mushy. When pierced with a knife the chunks should split or when pressed should feel mushy.

Add cardamom powder while its cooking.

Followed by a pinch of food color. I’ve used yellow food color. Kesari color is fine too.

Now add the sugar and mix well. The sugar will melt and the pineapple will get a syrupy shiny look.

Now add the cooked quinoa to the pineapple mixture. Add little ghee at this stage and mix well.

The quinoa will blend well with the pineapple mixture and look like this.

Add the remaining ghee and roasted cashews at this stage and switch off! A drop of pineapple essence will bring in much more flavor to the dish but purely optional!

Tasty quinoa pineapple kesari ready to be served!

Notes

• Serves 3 approx
• 1/4 cup raw quinoa can yield about 3/4 cup cooked quinoa – the dish actually may look more when cooked. Can feed upto 4 adults easily.
• Pineapple essence adds a lot of flavor, add a drop if you have it handy.
• Raw pineapple should be cooked thoroughly otherwise they may not be palate when the kesari is done.
• Ghee is a must for this dish, so do not compromise on it!