Orange Marmalade

A small bowl of fresh marmalade with fresh orange!!!

This recipe makes 3 jars like these

Last week we got a bag of oranges and I was wondering how to best use them without wasting! Well, got an idea to try out Jam or Marmalade from my dear hubby.. so read recipes online and offline but was not sure if I could really make it. The recipes simply seemed so complicated! but luckily got a simpler recipe which needed no pectin or preservatives and no difficult heart-breaking cooking terms.. so gave a try and was happily surprised to get the marmalade intact!

A must try for all who doubt your cooking skills :) and definitely you will love the freshness in taste compared to the store bought Jams and Spreads. Also, its cheaper too.. about 6 oranges gives you around 3 bottles of Jam.

Ingredients:

Oranges (Any type of orange, bitter ones also can give u good taste) - 6 nos
Sugar                                                                                                    - 1.2 kg (roughly 6 cups)
Lemon                                                                                                  - 1 nos

The orange skin floats atop on the marmalade!

Water (as required)

Method:

• First wash the oranges well in clean water to remove any dust particles
• Drop the oranges in a big pan and add water to cover them. Add a lemon along with the orange and set to heat. 
• Let the oranges simmer for about 2 hours. Do not boil them or cook them. Slow cooking gives the best results
• After the oranges gets bloated up after 2 hours, remove them from the pan and cut into halves and scoop out the pulp along with the seeds (if any) and add it back to the pan and set to boil
• Now wash the orange peels/ skin and remove the white layer inside the skin using a spoon and chop the orange skin into small pieces
• The orange mixture would have boiled by now, remove from fire and let it cool down a bit.
• Place a muslin cloth in a strainer and strain out the juice from the orange pulp mixture. 
• Around 5 cups of concentrated juice will be obtained from the mixture, (if it seems less, add extra orange juice or water to it to make 5 cups) 
• Now put the chopped orange skin, extracted juice and the sugar back to the pan and stir until the sugar gets dissolved
• Bring to boil with occasional stirring to prevent scorching. Make sure the stove is low to prevent over flowing
• After about 20 min, you will find the mixture turning into a darker shade. Boil until you get one string consistency
• To test, place a drop in a cold saucer and place in freezer for 2 min to see if gets set. (If it gets set, you can remove from fire, if not continue boiling till you get to that stage.)
• Let it cool for a minute, stir gently and remove any froth if present
• Pour into glass bottles or jars or cans and leave about half inch head space
• Seal it as you like and let it set out overnight. 
• Refrigerate once you break the seal and start using them.

Note:

This recipe makes about 3 Jars of Marmalade.
The white layer under the orange peel gives the bitter taste, for those who like the bitter sweet taste, do not remove the white part. 


Do send in your feedback and let me know how things worked!

Nei Appam

Nei Appam

Nei Appam - Aromatic sweet delicacy while cooking. The bowl has the finished Nei Appams.

Appam has always been an all time family favorite. As kids, we used to love these soft, round sweet balls to relish as an evening snack.  After wedding, I was more than glad to discover that my hubby was also fond of them. Bonus, my MIL was an expert in making these Nei appams! (though my mom made them, I never attempted to try them out before marriage)

Whoa! so the first time I tried it out was in my hubby's ancestral house in my native, Parakkai. Thanks to my MIL for sharing this recipe, which has never failed me so far. Now my one year old loves to eat them too :)

Ingredients:

Raw rice            - 1 cup

Jaggery             - 1 cup

Yelakai             - 3 or 4 pods

Ripe Banana         - 1

Sukku               - a pinch

Method:

• Soak raw rice in water for an hour
• In a mixer, add soaked rice, Jaggery, Yelakai, Sukku and ripe banana and grind to a smooth batter.(consistency would be that of dosa batter)
• Let the batter stand for an hour or so
• Add ghee in Paniyara kulzhi and once its hot, add the batter in the ghee (do not add batter to fill the kulzhi as the Appams will raise when it gets cooked)
• Serve hot

Note:

• If you dont have paniyara kulzhi, you can make small droppings in hot oil, heated in a kadai. The taste and shape will differ slightly, but it still will taste great
• If the batter gets watery, add a little rice flour to get the consistency. Too much watery batter will absorb more ghee and spoil the taste
• Taste the batter before you cook to check out the sweetness
• The Nei Appam, if stored in an air tight container will stay fresh for about a week. It can be stored at room temperature itself.