The East Indian Kitchen: Guava cheese

Made with the season’s freshest guavas, this light chewy dessert is surprisingly easy to put together. [caption id=“attachment_34742” align=“alignleft” width=“330” caption=“Guava Cheese. Image courtesy: Westland”]  [/caption] Ingredients: • 1 kg sugar • 1 kg guava puree, strained • 2 tbsp lime juice • ½ tsp vanilla essence Method: In a heavy-bottomed pan, cook the sugar with 50 ml of water over very low heat, to a soft ball stage, 115 degree celcius on the thermometer. (Alternatively, dip a teaspoon in syrup and dip it in ice cold water, you should be able to form the syrup into a soft ball.) In another pan, heat the guava puree. Add puree to the sugar syrup with lime juice and vanilla essence. Stir the mixture over low heat till it is thick and begins to leave the sides of the pan. Remove and pour on to a lightly greased tray. Level the surface. Cut into squares when cool. This recipe appears in the book The East Indian Kitchen authored by Cordon Bleu chef and food stylist Michael Swamy (Westland: Rs 395).