Pineapple sooji halwa/Pineapple sheera - A "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" graded Indian dessert

Sooji halwa is a very common Indian dessert.
As a kid plain sooji halwa used to be my regular Sunday breakfast, used to love it, I still do. I remember the first time I tried preparing it way back in college days, it was a real catastrophe. Had no idea of how much of what to be put and how to prepare. But I thought its easy to make, I saw my mom preparing it many times. And then, when I ended the project it was such a disaster! Firstly, I could have fed the whole community with the amount I made and secondly, no human would have ever retained their liking for halwa after having it! Since then I never dared to try that again in my life until few years back and fortunately the second attempt turned out at-least eatable.
This one I prepared yesterday with the twist of accompaniment of pineapple and it really turned delicious! How do I claim that? Well, I have my taste buds too! Moreover, I come to know about the taste of my dishes by looking at the expression my wife gives while tasting it. When she says, "its good" or "its very good" then I know its just "OKAY" in taste. But when she closes her eyes and says "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm", I know its delicious and lip smacking. That's the reaction I got yesterday! So I claim! :)

Ingredients:

• Semolina/Sooji            – 1 cup
• Pineapple                    - 1½ cup, finely chopped(Get rid of hard portion of the core)
• Ghee                           - 3 Tbsp
• Sugar                           - 1 cup
• Cashew                        - 15, broken into pieces
• Raisin                          - 20-25
• Saffron                        - 10-12 strands
• Cardamom powder       - ½ tsp
• Milk                             - 1 cup
• Water                          - 2½ cups

Method:

1. Take 4 Tbsp warm water in a bowl and soak the saffron strands for 30 mins.

2. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a non-stick pan. When hot add the cashews and raisins and fry them till little brownish in color. Remove from pan and keep aside.

3. Add the remaining ghee in the same pan. Add sooji. Fry in medium heat till sooji becomes little brownish in color and the aroma comes.

(8-10 minutes)

4. Add the finely chopped pineapple.
(Make sure you do get rid of the hard portion of the pineapple from the core. You can alternatively make a puree of the hard portion if you want to use them. I did not use them in my recipe and rather was munching on them while preparing the dish.)

5. Cook for another 4-5 minutes till pineapple gets cooked and becomes tender.
6. Add the fried cashew, raisins and saffron mix. Add water and mix well.
7. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 5 minutes. Give it a good stir in between, once or twice.

8. Add the milk now and mix well and cover and cook for few more minutes.
(I used cold milk)
9. Add essence of your choice(cardamom or vanilla).
10. Add sugar and mix well. After adding sugar the mix will become bit watery. Keep stirring until the halwa dries up a bit.

11. The delicious pineapple halwa is ready to serve. Some people like it hot but I prefer it at room temperature.