Very Berry and Cardamom Jam

Another reason to love the summer sun is abundance of berries! Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and mulberries. Delicious, gorgeous and full of anti-oxidants!

There is nothing better than home made jams and jellies for sure. A good way to preserve the nature’s bounty :). Strawberries and raspberries, both have such a small shelf life. If not consumed the same day, they get mushy and spoiled even in the fridge.

I had the similar batch of strawberries and raspberries, mushed and almost at the verge of spoiling. So there they went in to making a fabulous jam, not overly sweet, with a sweet hint of cardamom. There is something about elaichi, as cardamom is called in Hindi, that is soothing and exotic…enhances the flavors in an instant! So that was my twist in addition to some lemon rind.

Another dare devil act that I did with this post is that I clicked my jam pictures in the bright morning sun. Wanted to break out of the shell. Naina of Spice in the city is a gorgeous photographer. Her pictures leave me speechless and mesmerized. My clicks are in no comparison to hers but she inspired me to step out of my comfort zone!

Okay, enough of my muttering! Let’s get onto the recipe which is simple and yumm!

Kitchen Equipments Required : bowl, spoon, blender, heavy bottom saucepan, stirrer/spatula

Ingredients :

Strawberry, ripe : 300gms, washed and hulled

Raspberry, ripe : 1/2 cup, washed

Cardamom powder : 1/2 tsp

Sugar : slightly less than 1/4 cup

Vinegar : 1/2 tsp

Lemon rind of 1 small lemon

Salt : a small pinch

Method :

1. Soak the strawberries and raspberries in sugar for 2-3 hours, in the refrigerator. The berries will leave their juice.

2. Now take the blender and purée the berries in sugar syrup.

3. Take the heavy bottom pan. Add the purée, cardamom powder, lemon rind, vinegar and salt to the purée.

4. Cook on low flame till it thickens a bit for about 12-15 minutes. Stir often so that the sugar doesn’t stick to the bottom and doesn’t get burnt.

5. Cool at the room temperature and refrigerate in a clean and air tight jar.