Gayathri's Cook Spot: Strawberry Jam

I am not a great fan of jam, but Sruti is. So as I mentioned in my earlier post, I made jam out of two boxes of strawberries I found at the farmer's market. This is a very simple jam with only two ingredients. It is better to refrigerate it. It is so much better than the store bought ones as this doesn't have any preservatives or added colours. I love the grittiness of the strawberry seeds, so I didn't go for straining the puree. But if you want your jam smooth, then I would suggest you to strain the puree before adding sugar. One of my readers wanted me to post the recipe for mixed fruits jam. This recipe holds good for that too. Just substitute the strawberry puree with the puree of fruits of your liking ( banana, papaya, apple, mango). The colour of this jam is so striking. I didn't expect such a deep colour but I was so happy about how it turned out.

To decide whether the jam has reached the perfect consistency, place a small plate in the refrigerator. When testing, drop a tsp of jam on the chilled plate and wait for it to cool down. If you fip the plate, the jam shouldn't move. Only then you can transfer the jam to the sterilised bottle. Make sure that you transfer it at once when the mixture is piping hot. If it cools down then you will get a thick mixture which you will have a hard time transferring without trapping air. Measure the puree and add the same amount of sugar. I have mentioned 2 cups, which filled a 500gm honey jar. And keep ready the bottle before you start cooking the jam. Use clean, sterilised glass jars for storing jam.

Strawberry Puree-2 cups

1. Grind the sliced strawberries into a smooth puree.

2. If you want a smooth jam, strain the puree to get rid of the seeds.
3. Clean and sterilise a glass jar. Make sure that there are no water droplets in the jar.

4. In a thick bottomed pan, add the puree and equal amount of sugar.

5. Keep on stirring until it becomes very thick.

6. Keep on checking for the doneness.

7. One the jam has reached the consistency, pour it immediately into the jar.

8. Allow it to cool completely.

9. Close the jar and store in a cool place or refrigerate.

Add equal amount of sugar to it.

Keep on stirring until it reaches the jam consistency.

Pour it immediately into a glass jar.