SWEET AND SPICY LEMON JAM

In August our lemon tree in the front yard is laden with juicy, shiny yellow lemons.  This year I did not want to make Lemonade or digestive lemon pickle.  I decided to make either lemon chutney or lemon jam.  As we all know that lemon juice, rind and zest are used in a variety of ways.  Every part of lemon has a nutritional value.  For example lemon has no saturated fat, has a few calories and packed with vitamin C and essential minerals.  Lemon juice, rind and zest are used in variety of ways in cooking and baking all over the world.  I used the whole lemon to make this spicy and sweet jam.

This chutney or jam can be eaten with your food to spice up.  You can even use as a spread on crackers or toast.  It is better to eat this jam or chutney after three or four days otherwise it might taste bitter as skin of the lemons is boiled as well. The lemony taste of this jam along with the spices gives it a tingling kick on the palate.

This recipe is very simple but you will be satisfied with the end result and guests will be impressed by your culinary skills?  It is less time consuming than usual pickle making.

Ingredients:

18 small and medium lemons with thin skin, 2 ½ cups of sugar, 2 tsp of salt,  ½  tsp roasted and powdered fenugreek seeds, ½  tsp brown mustard seeds powdered, 1/8 tsp asafetida, ¼  tsp dry ginger powder

Method:

Extract juice of 6 lemons and keep it aside.  Cut 12 lemons into small pieces and take out the pits.  Put all the cut pieces into a pressure cooker and cook it for either three whistles or five to seven minutes till the skin is very tender.  When it cools off, open the pressure cooker put these boiled pieces in the food processor and pulse it for 30 seconds.  Now pour all this mix and lemon juice in a pan.  You might have small pieces of lemon in it which is okay.  Cook it on a medium flame.  Add salt and spices. Mix well. Let a boil come then add sugar. After two boils, let it simmer till it begins to thicken. Take a spoonful, cool it and taste it to check sugar and salt.  If you are a connoisseur of sweets, you might need more sugar. So adjust sugar or salt as per your taste. When it cools off completely, bottle the jam and refrigerate it.