Homemade Pineapple Jam

Winters create such a happy environment. What I love most about them is the array of fresh and colourful farm produce they bring along. One is spoilt for choice and before you realize these beauties vanish from the market. So, I decided to experiment with all of them one by one. The first ingredient of the season I picked was a Pineapple which was easily transformed into a luscious Homemade Pineapple Jam.

Pineapple jam smells heaven besides being tasty. It has a balanced sweet and sour flavour making it a good spread for a variety of products.

Recently I started making Fruit Jams when I realised Nabeel found them missing in his life after exchanging Tiffin’s with classmates. Jams are any child’s favourite. Surprisingly Nabeel is not fond of them, simply because I never served jams to him initially. The cavity creating, loaded with sugar, artificially flavoured & coloured, wobbly mass of “so called fruit jam” packed in attractive jars and sold in the markets, is definitely not a jam in my opinion.

December is a good time to make Homemade Jams as the most jam friendly fruits like strawberry, pineapple, apples, guava, etc are found in their freshest forms during this month.

I try my best to give homemade versions of popular kid’s favourite to Nabeel so that his taste buds learn to identify the authentic delicious flavours versus the artificial crap. My husband is a jam lover; especially the Homemade Mango Jam prepared by his mum. He rarely eats the store bought ones and that is what I want Nabeel to follow.

The cavity creating, loaded with sugar, artificially flavoured & coloured, wobbly mass of “so called fruit jam” packed in attractive jars and sold in the markets, is definitely not a jam in my opinion.

December is a good time to make Homemade Jams as the most jam friendly fruits like strawberry, pineapple, apples, guava, etc are found in their freshest forms during this month. Before this I did a Strawberry Jam, but for today, it’s a Homemade Pineapple Jam. With a ripe yellow Pineapple and some sugar you are good to go!

Pineapple jam smells heaven besides being tasty. It has a balanced sweet and sour flavour making it a good spread for a variety of products like tea-time cakes, toasts, few Indian breads like rotis & theplas, assorted cookies, etc. I often use Pineapple jam as a topping for ice-creams, which Nabeel just can’t seem to get enough of!
My pineapple jam has cinnamon, which can be omitted if you wish to. Small bite sized pieces of dry fruits like cashew, almonds and raisins take the jam to another level. Try adding them!

Happy Jamming!

                        Homemade Pineapple Jam – The Real Jam
    Fills a 500 gm Jam Jar to the brim. Stays good up to a month, if refrigerated.

Ingredients
2 cups pineapple, coarsely grated
¾ to 1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon

Method
Step1 – Choose a ripe yellow pineapple, peel and cut into small pieces. Churn it coarsely and use 2 cups of the pulp.
Step 2 – In a bowl mix the pineapple pulp along with ¾ cup sugar. Let it stand for 30 minutes, till the sugar melts.
Step 3 – Cook the mixture in a thick bottomed pan on a medium flame till the entire mixture turn into a brown mass. You need to keep stirring continuously. This step may take 20 to 30 minutes.
Step 4 – On lifting the mixing spoon sticky sugar threads should be seen, this indicates the jam is ready. At this stage add in cinnamon powder and dry fruits, if any.
Step 5 – Take off flame and cool the jam.
Step 6 – Transfer it into a dry jam jar and refrigerate. I did not use a sterilized jar and even after a month the jam tastes the same.

Tip 1: Allow one day refrigeration before eating the jam, this helps the flavours come out.

Tip 2: Always add less sugar first. Depending upon required sweetness more can be added later.

Till then, Love Being a Mommy!

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