Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Grape Jam
















Ingredients :

  1. Concord Grapes / Juice variety black grapes - 1 kg
  2. Sugar - 1/2 kg
  3. Salt - 2 pinches

Method:

Soak the grapes in a bucket or large pot filled with tap water and leave it for couple of hours or overnight ( Grapes are one of the fruits that are heavily dosed with pesticides , In this recipe we are using the skin - so wash and clean it well)
Keep a small steel container in the freezer ( to check the consistency of the jam)
Add the washed grapes and a cup of water into a large pan and start cooking it .
Once it comes to a boil , simmer for 5 minutes.
mash with the back of the spoon .
Strain this mixture through a wide mesh strainer (not very fine mesh , some pulp gives body to the jam)
Squeeze out all the solids from the pulp and skin - discard the left over seeds and skin .
Put the strained mixture back on the flame and add the sugar and bring to a simmer.
Keep stirring it - if you see any foam raise to the top ,skim and discard the froth.
cook until the mixture starts to thicken (mine took around 20 minutes)
Add the salt and stir .
Add a drop of jam on the frozen steel tumbler and run your finger through it - the trail should remain clean ,the jam should not flow back .that is the consistency you are looking for.
It will thicken well once it cools down.
Place a washed /dried glass bottle on a wooden surface and while the jam is still warm ,pour it into the bottle and close when it has cooled down to room temperature .
Store in the refrigerator.
We are not adding any preservative or the amount of sugar found in commercial jams (commercial jams use equal quantity of fruit :sugar ratio)  so ,it has to be stored in the refrigerator (remains good upto 2 months )

NOTE : you can increase the quantity of sugar ,depending on your preference . I like it less sweet so have used a littlr less than 1/2 quantity of sugar to fruit ratio.

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