Pineapple Kesari (Pineapple Sheera)

Updated: May 12, 2024, By Swasthi

Pineapple Kesari also known as Pineapple Sheera is a delicious sweet made with semolina, pineapple, sugar, ghee and nuts. This is a very popular dessert from Karnataka, a South Indian state. This super delicious dish has a natural sweet fragrance of the ripe pineapple combined with a nutty aroma of desi Ghee and cardamoms. With its smooth melt-in-the-mouth texture & tiny chunks of pineapples in every bite, this Pineapple Sheera is most likely to impress everyone.

Pineapple Sheera

Pineapple Kesari is a South Indian sweet pudding where roasted semolina is cooked with ripe pineapple, sugar and ghee. An artificial color or saffron is added to impart an yellow or orange color. You can always find pineapple kesari on most restaurants and Tiffin center Menus all over Karnataka. This classic sweet dish is made in the same lines as the traditional Sheera, an Indian semolina pudding.

It is known by different names across India such as, suji halwa, sajjige, kesari, kesari bath & rava kesari. In Hindi, Kesari is the word for saffron or orange color. Since these puddings are made with artificial saffron color they are named after the color “kesari”. A lot of health conscious home cooks have replaced artificial color with saffron strands in these recipes. So my recipe does not call for any color. Instead you can use saffron or totally omit it.

Here the quality of pineapple is the key. It has to be ripe and sweet so it gives the pineapple kesari a nice color and flavor. If you do not have pineapple, you can also use banana, mango, apple or mixed fruits. Pineapple sheera makes for a great refreshing after meal dessert. It can also be served as a breakfast with poori.

Or Serve this as a part of chow chow bath, khara bath and kesari bath served together in a plate with a chutney and other accompaniments.

There are a few different ways pineapple kesari is made. I am sharing the easiest one here. If you do not like pineapple chunks and want the halwa to be more intensely flavored, you can also blend it to a puree and use.

More Halwa recipes
Carrot halwa
Badam halwa
Moong dal halwa
Lauki ka halwa
Dates halwa

You can also check Sweets Recipes here and Diwali Sweets here.

Photo Guide

How to Make Pineapple Kesari (Stepwise Photos)

Here are the ingredients

  • 1 cup semolina (fine rava /suji)
  • ¼ to ⅓ cup ghee (4 to 6 tbsps, read notes)
  • 1 cup sweet pineapple chunks (half inch pieces)
  • 2½ cups water
  • ¾ to 1 cup organic sugar 

Preparation

1. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pot.

heat ghee in a pot

2. Fry 10 cashews (20 split) until light golden. Stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons sweet raisins and fry until they turn plump. Transfer them to a plate. Retain the ghee in the pot.

fry nuts and raisins

3. Add 1 cup semolina and roast on a medium flame, stirring continuously until it turns crunchy and begins to smell nutty/good. It takes about 5 to 6 mins. Do not discolor the rava. Transfer this to a plate and cool it.

roast semolina for pineapple kesari

4. Next pour 3 tablespoons ghee and add 1 cup pineapple chunks. Saute just for 2 to 3 mins. This helps to bring out a nice flavor from pineapple. If using pineapple puree, add it and then cook for 3 to 4 minutes. It will splash, so keep covered.

saute pineapple

5. Pour 2½ cups water, ¾ to 1 cup organic sugar and then a generous pinch of saffron or food color if you like. Bring it to a rolling boil on a high heat. (Alternately you can also add sugar once the semolina is cooked at step 8).

pour water and add saffron

Make Pineapple Sheera

6. When the water begins to boil, reduce the flame to medium. With one hand pour the semolina in a slow stream and keep stirring with the other hand to incorporate the semolina into the water. This prevent lumps. (Check my video below)

pour rava in a slow stream

7. Lower the flame completely and break down any lumps. Stir in ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder.

pineapple kesari recipe 06

8. The mixture turns very hot and may splash. Cover the pot and lower the flame.

cooking covered on a low flame for pineapple kesari recipe

9. Cook until the water is absorbed. Take a little kesari from the pot, cool down and taste test for sweetness and ghee.

Pineapple kesari

10. To adjust the sweetness, if you want you can stir in more fine sugar at this stage, sooner the better else the sugar won’t dissolve fast. Avoid using granulated sugar at this stage. Add little more ghee, about 1 to 2 tablespoons if you want.

melting sugar along with suji for pineapple sheera

11. Keep covered and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on the lowest heat. Turn off and let rest for 5 mins.

addition of ghee to make pineapple kesari recipe

Lastly garnish pineapple sheera with nuts and raisins. To serve, you may grease a small bowl and press down the pineapple sheera into it. Invert it on a plate gently, shake off. Garnish with nuts and raisins.

pineapple kesari also known as pineapple sheera

Related Recipes

Recipe Card

Pineapple Kesari

Pineapple Kesari (Pineapple Sheera)

4.97 from 55 votes
Pineapple Kesari also known as Pineapple Sheera is a delicious sweet made with semolina, pineapple, sugar, ghee and nuts. This is a very popular dessert from Karnataka, a Southern Indian state. 
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For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Servings4 to 6
AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )

  • 1 cup semolina (fine rava /suji)
  • ¼ to ⅓ cup ghee (read notes)
  • 1 cup pineapple chunks (sweet, half inch pieces)
  • cups water
  • ¾ to 1 cup organic sugar (adjust to taste)
  • ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder (elaichi)
  • 1 pinch saffron ( kesari or orange food color) (optional)
  • 10 whole cashews (split or use more if preferred)
  • 2 tablespoons raisins (use to preference)


Instructions

Preparation

  • Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pot. Fry cashews until light golden and stir in the raisins. Fry them until they turn plump. Remove to a plate and keep aside to garnish later.
  • Add rava/ semolina and fry on a medium heat until it turns aromatic & crunchy. Do not brown the rava, this step may take about 5 to 6 mins. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
  • To the same pot, add rest of the ghee and pineapple. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes & add sugar and saffron followed by water.

How to Make Pineapple Sheera

  • Bring to a rolling boil and reduce the flame to medium. With one hand, pour semolina to the pot in a slow stream, stir constantly with the other hand to incorporate semolina into the water. This avoids formation of lumps.
  • Lower the flame completely, break lumps if you find any. Cook covered until all the water is absorbed. Meanwhile cool down a little in a spoon and taste test. If you feel the need add more sugar and ghee.
  • Stir in the cardamom powder, turn off the heat & let rest for at least 5 mins before serving.
  • Garnish pineapple sheera with nuts and raisins. It is best served hot or warm.


Notes

  • Restaurants use ¾ to 1 cup ghee per 1 cup of rava and that turns out too greasy. I find ⅓ cup appropriate if you are making it for the family. ½ cup if you are making for guests and ¼ if you want to eat lesser fats. Use ¾ cup if you are going to serve 1 to 2 tablespoons only per serving as prasada.
  • It is important to use seasonal ripe sweet pineapple else your kesari will turn too sour and it will require more sugar. However you need to adjust the sugar based on your pineapple and your sugar preference. 
  • If you are using canned pineapples from the syrup, start with only half cup sugar and adjust later.
  • You can also puree the same amount of pineapple and use in this recipe.
  • You can use granulated sugar for the recipe but avoid that at the last adjusting stage, it takes longer to dissolve.

Video

NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)

Nutrition Facts
Pineapple Kesari (Pineapple Sheera)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 403 Calories from Fat 126
% Daily Value*
Fat 14g22%
Saturated Fat 7g44%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 4g
Cholesterol 29mg10%
Sodium 10mg0%
Potassium 183mg5%
Carbohydrates 66g22%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 30g33%
Protein 6g12%
Vitamin A 24IU0%
Vitamin C 20mg24%
Calcium 20mg2%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @SwasthisRecipes or tag #swasthisrecipes!

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About Swasthi

Iโ€™m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthiโ€™s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me

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Hi madam..if I make a Puree it will taste sour? Also please help with the measurements for 1cup rava how much pineapple Puree I should use…bcoz my kids will not eat chunks

5 stars
Tried your recipe Swasthi. It turned out delicious. Thank you!

5 stars
The pineapple that I have has a nice yellow color but has a kind of sweet sour taste. What can I do with it. Can I use it for this recipe?

5 stars
Hi. The pineapple tht I have has a nice yellow color but has a kind of sweet sour taste. What can I do with it. Can I use it for this recipe?

Cannot hear your video

Just awesome ! I allways thought I may need to add more ghee . It came out so well with 4/5 spoons of ghee.

5 stars
Tried this recipe….it was surprisingly easy and yummmyyy.. thank you for the wonderful recipe.?

5 stars
Friend and I got pineapple sheera in hotel mini meals last week. It didn’t taste good, kind of synthetic flavoured and no pineapple pieces, but I liked the idea of pineapple halwa so I searched and found your recipe. I try to eat vegan so I used coconut oil instead of ghee. In any case it came out soooooo yummy, completely different from hotel version. So happy to make such a delicious treat with sweet fresh pineapple and store cupboard items. Thanks so much for sharing.

5 stars
Forever grateful for all your recipes. I am a novice and am really bad at cooking, until I discovered your recipes. Your recipes are easy and the food had gr88 falvour. I am a big fan, thanks!

5 stars
The measurements were perfect sheera turned out awesome. I used fruit colour instead of kesar.Thanks for sharing a good recipe

5 stars
Hi Swasthi Garu,

Your recipes are quite easy for beginners. It helped me a lot .
I have a small question regarding rawa used to prepare pineapple sheera .
Can I use fine sooji rawa ?
Will that differ from using coarse sooji rawa?

5 stars
Yes andi , I meant to say chiroti rawa. I used Bombay rawa to prepare this sheera and it was a big hit . My family members loved it . Thank you so much for suggestion ?.

5 stars
Hai swasthi
It’s good see you are uploading videos also. It’s helps for beginners to learn easily.

5 stars
Hai swasthi
Very happy u r uploading videos also. It helps to who are learning recipes.

Hai swathi,
I love your recipes.I tried some of them.today I prepared my daughters favourite pineapple kesari.she loved it and it’s very tasty. Thank you.

Hey Swasthi,

I love your recipes, Noe I have learnt few North Indian dishes & chicken biriyani via this blog. Keep sharing wonderful recipes, There is a non-stick pan you use in most of the recipes, could you please share the details about that , which brand it is? .

Thanks a lot
Divya

5 stars
YUMMMMโ€ฆโ€ฆ. YUMMMMMโ€ฆโ€ฆ YUMMโ€ฆ.. YYYYYYYYYY SHEERA.

My sister do not like the taste of pineapple sheera, but I served her your blogs recipe.

She became a huge fan of pineapple sheera.

Thanks swasti for this wonderful recipe & also the it has got a mild sweet flavor so we can have it any time.

Can you share the previous recipe of Pineapple sheera?

3 stars
Hi Swati,
I have made this recipe many times and every year I make it on Ganesh puja, it’s a big hit! Thanks for sharing it again!

5 stars
I want to give 5 stars but clicked on 3 by mistake ๐Ÿ™

5 stars
Yummy, made your potato kurma with pulao and this kesari for last night’s dinner. All turned out delicious. Thank you