APPLE GRAPE JAM

 

A LONG TIME ASSOCIATION WITH HOMEMADE JAM, JELLY, ACHAR!

My readers know it well, of the few Western dishes I witnessed our mother had been making; jelly & jam were regular with seasonal fruits!After a "kalbaishakhir jhor" in the month of April; within a week; two to three varieties of raw mango pickle were made. They were sold very cheap after a storm.Our mother would look for such oppurtunities; I think similar middle-class homes followed the same footsteps!On the present day, I do too!I see who of Marigold, Amul Gold, Cowhead, Dutch Lady are offering what discount and then buy!I remember someone laughed at my misery and thereafter I stopped going out with people for shopping!May be because I stayed in a Metropolitan city called Kolkata, may be showing off is no where there in my dictionary, I do not hide my tendencies. I have seen people from smaller towns step into a city with a lot of complex & comprehensions! Unless they are very confident & intelligent selves; they would tend to show off, become an  extravagant to get into the league, to get noticed. I have never believed in all these and just cannot get along with the kinds! I have never felt the urge to ask T, "Bossy, I want to go with this group to a movie or with that to a party!" Where do people get this energy to do up, go out, meet with similar kinds, do useless talks; spend unnecessary; come back home to plan where to go the next morning! I think I am a born lethargic; the lazy me is like,"Oh! My couch!Glorious couch; hug me tight!" No doubt, I come from a family, where the mother after all the work, shower & lunch; sat with the organic jam, jelly, pickle making sessions!

I MUST GO WITH AN EASY RECIPE SHARE TODAY!

It is the Xmas bells ringing near is true; that I am tired after doing a delivery of food is also true!Then, I would not let go sharing a recipe in the blog, I like it!I enjoyed cooking a varied Bengali platter today! Because its my hobby, I did not feel tired while cooking; only that I had the tension to finish in time! I was however delayed by half n hour! It is after having the lunch, I feel sleepy! Since yesterday,I had been arranging for today's delivery; if tensed I eat more! Look at what I ate yesterday, what I served at the man's plate, my GOD Family's plates!

I thought the man's plate would be less, so bought an extra onigiri which he refused as excess. My lunch was almost spoilt given it was a tuna mayo onigiri whose smell I could not tolerate! That 2:50$ feels like a waste to me! At night,I chose to prepare a humble "paratha-aloo" meal for both of us!Those mini pineapples are said to be coming from Thailand! The father gets only chocolates & flowers unless its a special day!Before leaving for the airport on January 2017, I clicked him on our flat, did not know within four months he would leave us!Absolutely no one can take his place, it should be true for everyone around!I wish I talked to him a little more, cooked for him often, get him here one more time and take to the places I could not on his first trip!

WHAT IS THIS APPLE GRAPE JAM?

Following the mother, I prepare jam & spread at home; used to frequently when the son was more in and around the home!I love jam & butter together on toast, not allowed to given its sugar content!Then what to do with the excess of fruits post a special prayer at home? So I prepare jam with different combinations of fruits. Wish I could completely skip using the sugar, but I could not take my tastebuds to that level as yet. Its Xmas around; moreover looking at the enthusiasm of my brother & son around the Formula1 races, I felt lets get this vegan, gluten-free, organic condiment; APPLE GRAPE JAM to the blog today!I think its for his nephew, my brother is talking less about cricket these days!It was fun to hear from him how the very reticent nephew shared with him the way he cheered for Max & drank cans of RedBull, got sore throat; mumma cannot even ask why he drank that much of chilled drink on a wintry night!I better wait for the respective meets!It was jam-luchi rolls at first in baby's lunch boxes; it was jam on cream-crackers sitting with bhai, it was jam & butter both on bread with T at the Toshali Sands! That was less of a Honeymoon and more about learning new things I did not require to until age 26!Could I learn to be at par with the world at 51? Not really!Anyway, if you are into vegetarian food, keep some homemade jam on your table! See, I have learnt a bit so I can make some suggestions about food!

Few other Condiment Recipes from the Blog :

STAR ANISE FLAVOURED PLUM PRESERVE

PINEAPPLE JAM WITH CHILLI FLAKES

PEPPERY MANGO JAM

PEYARAR JELLY

INGREDIENTS :

APPLE : 3-4

GRAPE : 500 GM

SUGAR : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP SIZE

LEMON JUICE : 1/4 SMALL TEA CUP SIZE

CINNAMON STICK : 1 OR 2

PROCEDURE :

The first thing to do is to wash, peel and slice small the apples. Then we are to wash the grapes & half them.

We would take the apple slices in a deep bottomed pot half filled with water and put for boil!

After the apple slices have softened, say after 20 minutes of boiling; we would add the grapes & the cinnamon sticks!

After another 10-12 minutes of boiling, we would add the sugar and keep boiling at medium to low heat further!

Our job is to stir & adjust the heat at frequent intervals.

When both the fruits looks softened & melted 70%, we would add the lemon juice and give a stir!

We would keep boiling & stirring until it reaches a sticky consistency!That takes time!

Once cool, we will transfer it to a dry, sterilised bottle! You can choose to keep or throw off the cinnamon!