Christmas is close and you can feel the festivities in the air! The local markets around me are all decked up for the occasion! Such vibrant colors and hues of gold shimmer everywhere I look, such prettiness!! And as Christmas is this near, so must be all the festive treats and goodies! So this year, I thought of sharing a very traditional Goan sweet which is made during Christmas!!  My Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad recipe is simple, delicious, and absolutely easy as well! 🙂

We are all very fond of guavas or as commonly known as peru in Marathi or amrood in Hindi. It’s known as peraa in Konkani as thus the name Perad was given to this delicacy. Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe is very easy and as the name suggests, guavas are the star ingredient here!! 🙂

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

My hubby and I, both have the fondest memories of relishing Christmas goodies. He has spent a lot of time in Goa during his hotel management days. He has tasted the most delicious and traditional Kuswar Platters and loves the fare! I too have been familiar with all these traditional goodies courtesy of my school friends. They would carry some of these Christmas sweets and treats to school post the Christmas/ Winter break 🙂 And these fudgy, chewy yet melt in mouth Guava Cheese happened to be my favorite!! Little bites of heaven, my hubby calls them!! Although he has made a few batches of these in his college days, he barely remembers the recipes, Lol!!

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe is fairly simple once you get the hang of it, like most traditional recipes, this too is time-consuming and needs lots of patience too! I learned to make these at the start of 2019 when my hubby was missing his Goan Christmas celebrations. I looked up a few videos online and I came across the easiest and straightforward approach to make these dainty bites! He loved them to bits and I made 2-3 batches back to back after that and also this large batch for Christmas 2019!! This year too won’t be any different, I will whip up a batch just a day before Christmas or after, depends when I have some time on hand 🙂

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

Since we are on the topic of Christmas platters or treats, do try some more of my no-fail, tried and tested recipes!

No-Cook Eggless Marzipans
Marshmallows
Nankhatai
Light Fruit Cake
Shankarpali
Chocolate Fudge 

You will love these recipes just as much as I do!! We will now go on to making a batch of Guava Cheese | Goan Perad now. It is very simple to follow, you’ll just need a wee bit of elbow grease is all!!

Grease a tray or tin with ghee or butter. Set it aside.

Wash all the guavas well. Pressure cook the guavas for 2 whistles.

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

Allow it to cool completely. Then blend it until smooth.

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

Sieve the pulp through a fine mesh. This will eliminate all the bits of seeds and any fibers too. Do not skip this step.

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

After running the pulp through the sieve, I had 1 cup of pure guava pulp. I took the same quantity of sugar. That’s the final ratio.

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

Add the pulp and the sugar in a large heavy-bottomed skillet. Keep stirring and the sugar will start melting. You will have to stir continuously. The flame should be low-medium. The mixture can burn on a very high flame.

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

The mixture will bubble a lot so use a silicone or wooden spatula with a long handle. Keep stirring it.

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

After cooking for 30 minutes, the mixture will thicken further and start leaving the sides of the pan. Add the lemon juice, food color, and the butter at this stage and mix well.

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

I used Ameri Color red gel color but the color of the pulp turned to orange after cooking for another 20 minutes. The mixture now comes together more homogenously.

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

To test if the mixture ready, add a drop of the mixture to a small bowlful of chilled water. If the mixture forms a ball without disintegrating, the mixture is ready. If not, cook the mixture for another 7-8 minutes and do the test again.

 

The mixture came together to form a ball very easily. I just cooked the mixture for another 2-3 minutes. It came together like dough. I immediately transferred the mixture to the prepped tray. Leveled it well and allowed it to set for 7-8 hours.

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

I let the mixture sit at room temperature for 4 hours to set and kept it in the refrigerator for the remaining time.

You can cut it in any shape you prefer. We prefer them to be bite-sized, so I always give them diamond shapes.

Store them in an airtight container. They stay fresh at room temperature for 10-12 days and longer if refrigerated.

Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

Delicious, mildly tangy yet sweet bite-sized guava candies or Goan Guava Cheese are made during Christmas! It is a traditional delicacy and a must-have during the Holidays. It is super easy to make and needs very little prep work too! Do try these yummy candies! 

Course Dessert
Cuisine Goan, Indian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 44 small pieces
Author Shreya Ashish Tiwari

Ingredients

  • 1 cup guava pulp
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • juice of 1 small lemon
  • 1 drop red gel food color or liquid food color optional

Instructions

  1. Grease a tray or tin with ghee or butter. Set it aside. 

  2. Wash all the guavas well. Pressure cook the guavas for 2 whistles. 

  3. Allow it to cool completely. Then blend it until smooth. 

  4. Sieve the pulp through a fine mesh. This will eliminate all the bits of seeds and any fibers too. Do not skip this step.

  5. After running the pulp through the sieve, I had 1 cup of pure guava pulp. I took the same quantity of sugar. That's the final ratio. 

  6. Add the pulp and the sugar in a large heavy-bottomed skillet. Keep stirring and the sugar will start melting. You will have to stir continuously. The flame should be low-medium. The mixture can burn on a very high flame. 

  7. The mixture will bubble a lot so use a silicone or wooden spatula with a long handle. Keep stirring it. 

  8. After cooking for 30 minutes, the mixture will thicken further and start leaving the sides of the pan. Add the lemon juice, food color, and the butter at this stage and mix well. 

  9. I used Ameri Color red gel color but the color of the pulp turned to orange after cooking for another 20 minutes. The mixture now comes together more homogenously. 

  10. To test if the mixture ready, add a drop of the mixture to a small bowlful of chilled water. If the mixture forms a ball without disintegrating, the mixture is ready. If not, cook the mixture for another 7-8 minutes and do the test again. 

  11. The mixture came together to form a ball very easily. I just cooked the mixture for another 2-3 minutes. It came together like dough. I immediately transferred the mixture to the prepped tray. Leveled it well and allowed it to set for 7-8 hours. 

  12. I let the mixture sit at room temperature for 4 hours to set and kept it in the refrigerator for the remaining time.

  13. You can cut it in any shape you prefer. We prefer them to be bite-sized, so I always give them diamond shapes. 

  14. Store them in an airtight container. They stay fresh at room temperature for 10-12 days and longer if refrigerated. 

Recipe Notes

You can weigh the guava pulp after it's sieved and take an equal quantity of sugar. I am used to just measuring it with the cup so I followed it my way. 

You can skip adding any color if you prefer. 

Love,
Shreya

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Guava Cheese Recipe | Goan Perad Recipe

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