Calculated Chaos

Hello Lovely People,

The Christmas sweets making is on full steam. And since I lean towards organised freak category, schedules and lists take top priority even in my kitchen😇. 

A basic list of the Christmas sweets is first in order📑, then a ingredients list 📜and finally a break-down schedule of each day's recipes and it's associated pre or post steps📊. 

Haha, I'm sure by now you have OCD alert all over your face😂. 

Ah, well I have no shame in crossing over work skills to home. And as I said before it keeps me sorted in my head. Just the head though🤫, physically every surface of our ample kitchen surface is teeming with ingrediants, tools and appliances any time  when sweets-making is in progress🤭. 

So last night I was busy as elves making a Christmas treat called 'Guava Cheese'. 

It's not a actual cheese but like a fudge made with fresh guava pulp, it's almost close to the French 'pate de fruit' as the guava flavour is intense. 

And I am grinning in delight the the result, ain't they look pretty.?

Since we've moved here, I don't make 'guava cheese' very often. 

A) The Indian guava's supply is inconsistent here, and the local regional types taste so different to eat in the fruit form that I don't take risks for something like guava cheese in which d flavour is the soul. 

B) Most important reason I used to find it a bit daunting, the whole pulp thing and all. 

C) My Mum's makes such excellent variety, I rely on her to make some extra for me😁, it reaches me somehow whether we are in Mumbai for Christmas (which we hav been past 3 to 4 yrs) or even here (via kind friends who carry it for us) 

This year I had to take the leap of faith. We had gone to the big hypermarket in a closeby mall, and saw some decently big eygptian guavas; after meticulously choosing overripe ones I set my plans in motion.

RECIPE:

Time Taken:

Yield:

Method:

1) 4-5 medium guavas, preferably overripe (check for no major damage to skin). Since a few of the ones we chose were a bit firm to touch I kept all the guavas in a bamboo basket covered in brown paper (newspaper will do as well), for 24 hours. It's an old wives tale that paper helps ripen fruits faster, so I gave it a try🤷‍♀️

2) Steam the guavas in a lil bit of water. I put them in pressure cooker and took 2 whistles (this is what my mum does, so I followed the same).

3) The steaming softens the guava and makes it easy to remove the skin. But before that let the steamed guavas cool a bit. If possible scoop out the seeds as much as you can (since they are normally clustered in one place)

4) Pass the guava pulp through a fine mesh to get rid of the veins and seeds. I got about 2 cups pulp. Let me warn you its time consuming and messy affair🤨. 

5) In a heavy bottomed pan mix 2 cups sugar with the 2 cups guava pulp (1:1 ratios). Add 5-6 drops of lemon juice. 

6) Turn on the heat to low, and cook the mixture. Till the sugars melts, the pulp thickens and the mixture starts leaving sides.

7) Add 1tsp butter and the desired food colour. Traditionally we use pink or green. Once these have been added I cook the mixture for a minute or two for the colour to develop completely. 

8) Transfer to a pre-greased with butter or ghee shallow tray. You can use a cake tin even. Spread as evenly as possible and let it cool overnight. 

9) As you can see mine is 2-layered of both pink and green colours. I cooked mine in two batches to get the colours and layered it one on top of the other.

10) Once it is set, cut in desired shapes; normally people go for diamond shape, I went for a specific 2x2 cms squares (😉 yes I used a scale😄). 

11) I let them air dry again for 6 to 12 hours so the surface hardens up into this glossy sheen. 

12) Store in airtight containers and wait for Christmas😄.

Will be back with another recipe soon. Till then happy holidays🎄.

Cheers!