Guyanese Cream Of Wheat Parsad

This is a simple cream of wheat halwa made in Guyanese style. It has an amazing texture and is extremely delicious. This is offered after Hindu religious festivals in Guyana called Jhandi. I read that this will be distributed to everyone after the ceremony in brown bags. This has the perfect amount of sweetness and is not too sweet or too bland, Just Perfect! Cream of wheat (sooji) and flour cooked in ghee and evaporated milk - doesn't it sound amazing?

There are two types of Parsad - one made with flour and the other with cream of wheat. We have a flour based dessert in our cuisine called Kadaprasad and making with sooji or cream of wheat halwa is also common. The only difference is that the Guyanese Parsad has cinnamon and nutmeg in addition to cardamom, the Indian version has cardamom alone. Though I wanted to try cream of wheat alone, I tried the Guyanese way with a mixture of both and the texture was amazing. I read that there is a version with seven up or orange soda and it sounds amazing, and would love to try sometime. I followed my recipe from Alicia's pepperpot and Mathew's Guyanese Cooking. This is one of the recipes we loved. We fell in love with Pholourie, Guyanese dal and bake as it was more similar to our traditional comfort foods.

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We are exploring the Guyana in our #EattheWorld Challenge group this month.  Guyana is the English speaking country in South America and its food is diverse. It has flavors influence from Indian, African, British and Dutch. Eat the World members and share with #eattheworld. Click here to find out how to join and have fun exploring a country a month in the kitchen with us!

Ingredients

Cream of wheat - 1/3 cup

All-purpose flour - 1/4cup

Sugar/brown sugar - 1/4 cup

Evaporated milk - 1 cup

Raisins - 2 tbsp

Cinnamon powder  - 1/4 tsp

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Ground nutmeg - a pinch

Ghee (clarified butter) - 1/2 cup

Method

Add the milk, sugar, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, raisins, and ground nutmeg to a bowl and heat, but do not boil.

In the meantime, heat ghee in a pan over medium heat and add the flour. Fry the flour for 2 minutes.

Add the cream of wheat and continue to fry with stirring for 5 minutes.

stirring is essential to prevent burning. cook till it is golden brown in about 5-7 minutes.

Add the warm milk mixture and cook with stirring.

The mixture will thicken and absorb all the liquid. It will swirl along with the spatula without sticking to the pan. This may take about 1-2 minutes. Switch off the flame and transfer to serving bowl.

Serve warm or at room temperature.