Avanasa Godi Upkari / Pineapple Sweet Upkari.

"Avanasa Godi Upkari / Pineapple Sweet Upkari" ... A Delicious sweet curry that can be served as a dessert both hot or at room temperature ... This one is similar to Amchies fav. Ambe Upkari / Mango Sweet Curry ... When Mangoes are not in season you can prepare it with pineapples and relish the same. Pineapples are available all round the season, so it is not difficult to prepare and serve this yummy dish at any time of the year when you have guests ... Yummy Yumz ........

** Slice off the thick thorny skin of Pineapple, removing also the out eyes that are seen on the sweet edible flesh part and chop them to pieces leaving out the center core.  Do not discard the center core, we need it while grinding the pulp. You should get about 5-6 cups of pineapple pieces.

** You can always witness the cutting of pineapple with your fruit vendor for proper knowledge of slicing etc. Pineapple is a little bit tedious to cut compared to other fruits and I would definitely advice you to watch it keenly when done. In Mumbai our fruit vendors do it for us and I always get it done from them to avoid the mess. 

** Grind 1 cup of pineapple pieces and the center core to a smooth paste with 2 cups of water. The ground paste should be smooth to get more of juice. Strain the juice through a fine sieve and retain the juice aside. You can discard the residue. 

** Add the juice to the 5 cups of pineapple pieces and put them in a wide vessel. Bring it to a boil. Add more water if necessary. The water should be 1 inch level above the pineapple pieces. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Lower heat and add in 2-3 cups of grated jaggery. Add 3-4 green chillies slit lengthwise. Cook on medium heat till all the jaggery has melted and mixed well with the pineapple juice. (You can add more or less jaggery depending up how much sweet you want the dish to be).

** Add 1 tblsp of cornflour in half a cup of water and mix well. Add this to the pineapple curry keeping the heat very low. Mix in the curry well immediately so that no lumps are formed. If you find the curry a bit too thick add in a cup or two of water and bring to desired consistency. When the curry comes to full boil remove from heat.

** For Seasoning : Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan, when hot add 1 tsp of rai (sasam) and when it splutters add in 8-10 small sized curry leaves, remove from heat and add half a tsp of roughly crushed pepper powder (Optional). Pour this over the curry.

** Note : You can add one red chilly broken to pieces into the seasoning. I have not as I do not like the red colour it imparts to the curry on resting aside. The choice is totally yours.

** "Avanasa Godi Upkari / Pineapple Sweet Upkari" is done and ready to be served. You can serve this yummy sweet dish both hot or cold. This remains good for a few days if you refrigerate it immediately on cooling a bit.