Zaiqa

The other day while sorting out the pantry, I found some dried figs which I had bought long time back from the store. They were gorgeous and smelled delectable. Dried figs are easy to store and keep well for very long time at room temperatures.

I love to munch on a few dried uncooked figs at breakfasts usually. They are sweet, cooling, nourishing, heavy fruit low in saturated fat and help fight Cancer as they contain many antioxidants. Dried figs are a good laxative, helpful for those with constipation and also helps lower blood cholesterol. It is a good source of minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, fibre, copper and vitamin B6 and K. It has some anti-bacterial properties too. However figs should not be had in larger amounts at a time as they increase blood sugar levels quickly and can also cause diarrhoea.

This time I wanted to prepare a jam with these and went on with it. This is a preservelike spread and not a true preserve and must be refrigerated to avoid spoilage, because it contains a higher proportion of fruit to sugar and retain more fruit flavor. The jam was delicious and got prepared in less than an hour. I love the slight crunchy texture due to the seeds in the jam.

Dried Fig Jam

Ingredients:

• Dried Figs/Anjeer – 250 gms, stems removed and finely chpped
• Sugar – 1/2 cup
• Citric Acid – 1/4 tp
• Lemon juice – 1 tsp
• Water – 500 ml

Method:

• Add the chopped figs and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, simmer and let it cook covered for 25 minutes until the figs are soft. Remove from heat and keep aside until cool.
• In a blender container, pour the contents of the saucepan and blend it till pureed.
• Pour this back into the saucepan and add the sugar, lemon juice, citric acid and let it cook for about 15 more minutes on medium heat or until it reaches a jammy consistency.
• Pour this into a sterlised dried glass jar with a tight lid and let it cool completely. Refrigerate to store.

Finish the jam within a month in order to avoid spoilage.

Luv,
Mona

Jellies are translucent spreads made from strained fruit juice. I had learnt this process while studying Nutrition during my graduation in Hyderabad. We were taught to prepare few jams and jellies using local fruits and this jelly was one of them. Recreating it today in my kitchen brought back all those fun memories during that time of my life.

Banana Jelly

Jelly making a two-step process. First the juice is to be extracted, then strained. Then, the clear juice is cooked along with sugar and acid until the perfect jelly consistency is reached. Ripe bananas which have a naturally sweet taste are perfect for jelly preparation. Do prepare it and try at least once.

Banana Jelly

Ingredients:

Ripe Banana/Pake huwe Mauz – 6
Sugar – 2 cups
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash and peel the bananas. Cut them into small pieces.

2. Take a pressure cooker and add cut banana pieces into it. Add water just enough to cover the banana pieces and let it pressure cook for just a few minutes till the banana are very soft. Mash the banana mixture and sieve through a strainer so that no pulp fiber should come into the extract. Discard the residue.

3. Pour the obtained clear extract into a measuring glass, and add equal amounts of sugar to it. ( I adapted because the bananas that I used were very sweet. I added 2 cups of sugar for 2 1/2 cups of obtained clear extract)
4. Cook the extract again in a heavy bottom pan by stirring continuously till the consistency of a jelly is obtained. Make sure that you do not to over cook it, else it will crystallize and harden. Pour the jelly into sterilized glass jars and let it cool. Store in the refrigerator.