Blueberry Jam - Just 3 ingredients!

Ingredients:
600 grams - Fresh Blueberries
400 grams - Sugar
1 tablespoon - Lemon juice

Method:

• Wash the blueberries well.
• Add the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice into a heavy bottom pan.
• Place the pan over a gentle heat to slowly dissolve the sugar crystals, stirring with a wooden spoon from time to time.
• As the sugar starts to melt and the fruit warms up, mash the blueberries in the pan.
• Once the sugar has completely dissolved turn up the heat and bring the pan to boil and time for 15 minutes, stirring all the while (to prevent the sugar burning on the base).
• Take the pan off the heat and test a few drops of the jam on a frozen saucer and place in the fridge for a minute. If when you push your finger through it the jam forms a crinkle and is gel like then it’s ready. Otherwise boil for another couple of minutes and repeat process until ready.
• Store the jam in a glass jar.

Recipe inspired by fabfood4all.

Tomato Thokku

My mom makes this thokku for us every time she comes to Singapore, and it lasts for a long time even after she has returned to India. So recently I started to make this tomato thokku for my hubby every time I go to India on long vacations.  This is a quick and easy to make, and goes well with almost everything like rice, chapathi, dosai, idly, etc. I have made this so many times now, that hubby claims my recipe is better than my mom’s J  The trick is to make it really spicy and add more oil ;) 

Tomato Thokku

Ingredients:

5 tomatoes - chopped finely.

1 teaspoon - red chilli powder,

2 teaspoon - sambar powder,

1 teaspoon - ginger garlic paste,

1/2 teaspoon - turmeric,

1 teaspoon- fenugreek powder,

2 teaspoon – salt (or as required)

Method:

• In a kadai, temper - mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida.
• Add the tomatoes along with the rest of the ingredients. Let the mixture boil for 5 minutes, keep stirring.
• Then reduce flame and let it cook until oil oozes out. Stir at constant intervals to avoid burning.
• Store in a dry container, after cooling completely.

NOTE: The thokku keeps well for 4 weeks if refrigerated. 

Cranberry Jam

It's Christmas season, and I recently have been seeing cranberries all over the supermarkets here in Singapore. I have never tasted fresh cranberries before, so when I saw them in Mustafa (of all places)…I immediately grabbed a bag and headed home. I was expecting it to taste sweet. But they tasted so tart, and I couldn't really eat it on its own.

So the bag was lying in my fridge waiting to be baked into breakfast muffins. But I never got around to bake anything this week.  And a can of jam sounded like the yummiest way to use up these fresh berries.

This ruby red spread is so refreshing and delicious...slathered on a piece of toast, it makes a perfect breakfast! Moreover, Cranberries are powerhouse of Vitamin C and antioxidants. Now you don’t need any more excuse to try out this super quick, sugar-free preserve this Christmas season!

Cranberry Jam

Yields: About 1 ½ cups of jam

Ingredients:

• 3 ½ cups – Cranberries
• ¾ cup – Honey
• 2 tablespoons – Raw Sugar (optional)
• 1 tablespoon – Vanilla essence

 Directions:

• Heat all the ingredients in a pan and keep stirring.
• Keep cooking for about 10 minutes until all the berries break down and the mixture thickens. Do not overcook.
• Transfer the contents to a glass jar, and store it in the refrigerator for up to a month.

 NOTE:

• If you prefer a smooth texture for your jam, just blend the mixture in a blender, while the jam is still warm. And then store it in a glass jar.
• I skipped this step, because we like coarse texture for our spreads.