Pineapple Halwa – Semolina & Pineapple Pudding

4.67 from 3 votes

Mar 31, 2014, Updated Jan 02, 2018

Indian sooji halwa with a touch of pineapple!

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This is an old post that has been sitting in my drafts folder for too long. I wasn’t sure about posting this well because I wasn’t happy with the pictures. I was in a rush while clicking these pictures and the artificial light didn’t help either. But I have finally decided to put this up simply because the halwa tasted good so what if doesn’t look that appetizing in pictures ; )

Known as kesari in south India and halwa in north, it is made in every household in India and you never need a special occasion for making it. Halwa can be made using semolina, whole wheat flour, lentils, carrots etc. Out of these the one made with semolina (sooji) is the most popular.

This halwa is basically sooji halwa in which pineapple has been added to give it a tasty twist. I used canned crushed pineapple for this recipe but you can use real pineapple too. If using real pineapple, chop it into small pieces and cook in water for 5 minutes till it becomes soft and then add in the halwa.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Semolina (sooji): 1/2 cup

Sugar: 3/4 cup

Milk: 1/2 cup

Water: 1.5 cups

Ghee (clarified butter): 1/4 cup

Pineapple, crushed: 1 cup [ I used crushed pineapple can]

Cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp

Yellow food color: a drop

Nuts, to garnish

Method

Take water and milk in a pan and put it on medium heat.

1. Heat ghee or butter in a pan. Traditionally ghee [clarified butter] is used to make all types of halwa, but you can use unsalted butter instead.

2. Once the ghee is hot, add semolina (sooji) and roast on medium-low flame till it’s roasted and starts giving a nice aroma.

3. Now add hot water and milk to semolina while stirring continuously.

4. Once the water and milk is absorbed, add the crushed pineapple and mix.

5. Add sugar and mix. The mixture will again begin to loosen up when you add the sugar, keep stirring making sure there are no lumps.

6. Add food color and simmer on medium-low flame for 2 minutes. Add cardamom powder and switch off the flame.

Garnish with nuts of your choice and serve warm.

* If using nuts, fry them in little ghee first and then use them to garnish the halwa. I didn’t do that because I made this for someone who is allergic to nuts so I skipped that step.

* Adjust the sugar to taste, the canned pineapple already had sugar in it so 3/4 was good enough for me.