Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
Guava cheese is one of the most commonly prepared sweets in most Catholic households for Christmas. It is chewy and yet a melt in the mouth kind of fudge if prepared correctly. It is known as Perad in Goa. Here’s an easy step-by-step recipe to make this Christmas treat!
Few basic ingredients go into the making of Guava cheese i.e guava, sugar, lemon juice & butter. The short list of ingredients iscompensated for the lengthy procedure. Butthat end result definitely makes it worth the effort. These will disappear faster than the total time it will take you to prepare them. At least I can easily gobble 4-5 in one go 😀 They are extremely addictive.
I meantto share this recipe last Christmas. But I couldn’t find fresh guava’s here. Since my Mum-in-law was here, last Christmas, I thought I’d learn and document the recipe. Now she has only made this with fresh guavas, so it was definitely going to be a hit or miss. Somehow hertried and tested recipe did not workwith the readymade pulp.
This guava cheese | perad is quite similar in texture to the guava paste also known as guayabate I’ve seen here in the US, but it doesn’t taste the same. Although, after looking up online, I found that it’s made with the same ingredients. I’m not sure why it still doesn’t taste like the guava cheese I’ve had back home. Probably the taste of guava itself differs, just a guess!
This time I spotted tiny guavas at Walmart, and the first thing that came to my mind was Guava cheese. It’s been a while I last had some guavas. I simply love eating guava fruit with some salt and red chilli powder, and I’m sure you would relate with me if you enjoy eating guavas that way!
I just picked up that box out of impulseand set to make this at 11 pm in the night. Talk about obsession! And imagine my delight, when I saw that beautifully set guava cheese with a beautiful smooth finish, in the morning, I was on cloud 9!!
I couldn’t help but taste a small piece of all my late night hard work. It was perfect, and just melted in the mouth, not overly chewy! Just as we like it 🙂 Yay!! I’m glad to strikeoff of one more thing from my never-ending but rather increasing to-do list! 🙂
I’m sharing this guava cheese | peradwith my blogger friend Priti@My pinch of yumfor her “COLLECTIVE FOR CHRISTMAS”.Pritiis yet another of the few bloggerswith whom I happened to connect during my initial days of blogging! Do stop by her blog to check out the deliciousness she shares. If you would like to contribute for her Christmas collective (share posts relatedto Xmas or Party Recipes, Vegan/Gluten-free Recipes, Cakes, DIY, Party/Menu Planning, Gift Ideas, Travel, Crafts and Activities), please click here to know how you can share your creations.
Table of Contents
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THESE TRADITIONAL GOAN CHRISTMAS SWEET RECIPES TOO
- Rich Christmas fruit cake
- Goan Baath cake
- Any much more here.
And now, let’s see how to prepare Guava cheese | Perad 🙂
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE GUAVA CHEESE | PERAD
1.Wash the guavas well. Heat water in a large pot, once it comes to a boil, add the guavas. Cook until the guavas are tender, drain the water in a bowl and reserve it for further use.Once the guavas are warm enough to handle, peel as much of the skin as you can & scoop out the seeds.
2.Boil the seeds with 1/2 cup of the reserved water.
3.Pass the guava’s through a fine mesh sieve, collect the pulp in a bowl. You may also puree and then pass it through the sieve.
4.Also, pass the seeds boiled in water through the fine mesh sieve and collect the extract in the bowl containing the guava pulp. Weigh out the total pulp. You will need exactly the same amount of sugar or slightly more if the guavas are not very sweet. I had a total yield of 300 grams (1 & 1/2 cup guava pulp), and so have used 300 grams sugar.
5.In a dry pot , add the guava pulp and the sugar. Stir on medium heat to prevent it from burning at the bottom. Use a long wooden handle preferably to make stirring easier.
6.After about 10 minutes, the mixture will start bubbling, add in the lemon juice and continue stirring. If it bubbles vigorously then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring.
7.After another 10-15 minutes of stirring the mixture will have reduced and will begin to thicken. Add butter and the food color, and keep stirring till the mixture leaves the edges of the pan or when you scrape the mixture at the bottom, it stays apart for few seconds.
8.To test: Keep a bowl of ice cold water ready, take a little mixture and transfer it to the water, try to form a ball. If you can, it is done.
9.Remove from the heat and immediately transfer to a well-greased plate or tin. Smooth it out on top. Leave it to cool and set at room temperature for 6-8 hours. Cut into desired pieces and store in an airtight container. I got a total of 20 pieces of perad with a 1/2 inch thickness. You can reduce the thickness to 1/4 inch and get double the yield.
HOW TO MAKE GUAVA CHEESE | PERAD?
Guava Cheese | Perad Recipe | How To Make Guava Cheese
Freda Dias
Guava cheese is one of the most commonly prepared sweets in most Catholic households for Christmas. It is chewy and yet a melt in the mouth kind of fudge if prepared correctly. It is known as Perad in Goa. Here's an easy step-by-step recipe to make this Christmas treat!
5 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 40 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr
Course Desserts
Cuisine Goan, Indian
Servings 20 pieces
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 1.1 lbs / 500 grams Guava's
- 0.6 lbs / 300 grams sugar
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 4-5 drops of red food color, optional
Instructions
Wash the guavas well. Heat water in a large pot, once it comes to a boil, add the guavas. Cook until the guavas are tender, drain the water in a bowl and reserve it for further use.Once the guavas are warm enough to handle, peel as much of the skin as you can & scoop out the seeds.
Boil the seeds with 1/2 cup of the reserved water.
Pass the guava's through a fine mesh sieve, collect the pulp in a bowl. You may also puree and then pass it through the sieve. Also, pass the seeds boiled in water through the fine mesh sieve and collect the extract in the bowl containing the guava pulp. Weigh out the total pulp. You will need exactly the same amount of sugar or slightly more if the guavas are not very sweet. I had a total yield of 300 grams (1 & 1/2 cup guava pulp), and so have used 300 grams sugar.
In a dry pot, add the guava pulp and the sugar. Stir on medium heat to prevent it from burning at the bottom. Use a long wooden handle preferably to make stirring easier.
After about 10 minutes, the mixture will start bubbling, add in the lemon juice and continue stirring. If it bubbles vigorously then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring.
After another 10-15 minutes of stirring the mixture will have reduced and will begin to thicken. Add butter and the food color, and keep stirring till the mixture leaves the edges of the pan or when you scrape the mixture at the bottom, it stays apart for few seconds.
To test: Keep a bowl of ice cold water ready, take alittle mixture and transfer it to the water, try to form a ball. If you can, it is done.
Remove from the heat and immediately transfer to a well-greased plate or tin. Smooth it out on top. Leave it to cool and set at room temperature for 6-8 hours. Cut into desired pieces and store in an airtight container. I got a total of 20 pieces of perad with a 1/2 inch thickness. You can reduce the thickness to 1/4 inch and get double the yield.
Keyword Guava Cheese, Perad
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
PIN IT FOR LATER
I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to share your feedback with photos and suggestions to me at [emailprotected]
You can also follow me on :
Facebook @ Aromaticessence
Pinterest @ Aromatic Essence
Instagram @aromatic_essence77
Twitter @freda_dias
Thanks forstopping by!
Regards,
Freda
