Guava Jam

I had once found guava jam in the local store and having been deprived of this fruit for many many years, bought a small and expensive jar of jam. The jam wasn't that great, no real guava fragrance or taste. Fast forward a few years, we now have a guava tree and got our first crop of pink guavas. I decided to convert some of the fruit into jam and what a difference! The color is beautiful and it is so fragrant. This is a simple recipe and will perfectly preserve the fruit for us to enjoy it long after the fruiting season ends.

Ingredients 

10 guavas, cut the fruit into tiny pieces. Then push these through a sieve to make pulp and strain the seeds. you can grate it but it will be difficult to remove the seeds
Once you have the guava pulp, weigh it. Then weigh an equal amount of sugar.
Water- to make syrup - 1:1 in volume to sugar 
A pinch of salt- I sprinkled this over the pulp.

Method 
Mix together the sugar and water and heat it. Cook the syrup till it thickens, beyond the two thread stage, and just before the soft ball stage. Then add the guava pulp. Stir and mix well. It will become more fluid. Now cook this mixture till it thickens. To determine if you have the correct consistency, put a spoon of jam onto a plate and pull a finger or the spoon through it. If the pattern stays intact and the jam doesn't flow to fill the path of the finger, then you have the desired consistency.

Take it off the heat and cool completely before storing in a jar. This will take a 5-6 hours.  Refrigerate this jam. Use dry spoons when removing the jam from the jar to extend shelf life. It will be good in the fridge for a few months.

Tips

If the guavas are not ripe and soft, then boil them till they become soft before making the pulp.

Pineapple Jam

Over the last two years (ever since I started blogging), I have collected many pictures of food. I cook everyday and enjoy trying out new recipes. So, it follows that I end up taking pictures at least a couple of days a week, of new food items and my photo collection keeps growing. The challenge is to keep up with the blog updates as I make new dishes. I was going through the various pictures and trying to decide which recipe to write up next, when I came across pictures of my homemade pineapple jam. It is an easy recipe, to make and to write up too, so it is the perfect choice for blogging on a rather busy day. I had used a method similar to my strawberry jam. It tastes delicious. It has a slightly tangy taste depending on how sour the pineapple is. It is a great accompaniment for bread or hot chapatis.

Ingredients
1 pineapple, finely chopped or grated or coarsely pureeed
sugar (about 1.5 to 2 cups) - quantity will depend on the cooked down quantity of the pineapple
1/8 tsp citric acid

Method
Cook the pineapple on medium heat. You will know that the pineapple is cooked once the color starts to become darker and the puree starts to thicken. At this stage, measure the amount of the cooked puree. Measure out two times the sugar compared to the quantity of cooked puree. I had one cup of the cooked puree and so I took two cups of sugar. Mix the puree and the sugar and heat it on a low flame. The mixture will become watery as the sugar melts and then start to thicken. When this mixture is thick enough where your spoon leaves a slight path when its dragged through it, it is ready to be taken off the heat. Take a little mixture in a small bowl and add the citric acid to it, stir thoroughly so that the citric acid is completely dissolved. Add this back to the warm mixture. Let it cool.  Do not cover the jam as it cools down. Store it in the fridge upon cooling.

Tips
If you puree the pineapple, keep aside a slice of pineapple and cut it into fine pieces. The puree and pineapple pieces will provide the best texture for the jam. Store it in the fridge. Use only dry spoons when scooping the jam out of the container. Introduction of moisture will speed up the spoilage and it will not last for too long.

Strawberry Jam

I had been to the grocery store last week picked up a couple of pounds of strawberries. Of course, there were too many to eat and finish before getting spoilt, so I thought why not make a jam. I have the fondest memories of childhood where my mom used to make a variety of jams, preserves and sauces and once I had thought of that, I just had to call her and ask for the recipe. It turned out to be a simple recipe, with a lengthy cooking time, but since constant supervision was not required, it seemed to be really easy.

Ingredients
1 pound of strawberries pureed. Keep a few aside and dice them.
2 cups sugar
a couple of pinches of citric acid.

Method
Cook the pureed and diced strawberries together. You will know that the strawberry is cooked once the color of the puree changes to deep red and the volume will decrease and the mixture will become thicker. At this stage, measure the amount of the cooked puree. I had one cup of the cooked puree and so I took two cups of sugar. Mix the puree and the sugar and heat it on a low flame. The mixture will become watery as the sugar melts and then start to thicken. When this mixture is thick enough where your spoon leaves a slight path when its dragged through it, it is ready to be taken off the heat. Take a little mixture in a small bowl and add the citric acid to it, stir thoroughly so that the citric acid is completely dissolved. Add this back to the warm mixture. Let it cool. Jam is ready!! Enjoy with a piece of toast.

Tips

I took one pound, however, since the other measurements are relative to the cooked pureed strawberry volume, it doesn't matter what you start with, just adjust the proportions of other ingredients accordingly. The volume of sugar must be equal or more than the volume of cooked pureed strawberries. This can be adjusted based on how sweet the strawberries are. If they are sour, increase the amount of sugar. Do not cover the jam with a lid when it is cooling. Condensed water can lead to spoilage. Citric acid is added as a preservative. If it is not completely dissolved, it can leave a very sour taste if one comes across it while eating the jam, so make sure that it is dissovled completely. This recipe takes about 1.5 hours to cook completely, if cooked on low-medium heat.