With CoVid still hanging around, very few of us have time to spare to make stuff like jam . After all, it’s far easier to order the jam online! All you have to do is get the delivery.

But when strawberries the size of tomatos are sold on the pavements, I thought I should try my hand at some homemade preservative-free jam.

The first thing I did was to find a suitable recipe. As usual Google came to the rescue and I came up with an easy three ingredient 20 minute recipe .

According to Jamie Sanders whose recipe I relied on, all that you really need is strawberries, sugar and lime juice . And a heavy bottomed pan and twenty minutes time.

I loved this recipe because it didn’t require pectin which is not available at my local baniya.

Actually I’m not too sure about that because of late, the baniya has begun stocking up on Rice Wine Vinegar and blended Sesame Oil . Obviously during the pandemic, these two foreign ingredients have become essential for the denizens of this neighbourhood who like millions of others, have become gourmet home cooks . Who knows , he may yet surprise me with two brands of pectin to choose from .

But, anyways, with Ms. Papaya dying to try her hand at making jam at home, we got down to making the yummiest, scrummiest home made jam

Ingredients

• 500g strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 2 tbs lemon juice

Instructions

1. In a heavy bottom pot, mix together the strawberries, sugar, and the lemon juice.
2. Stir continuously over med-low heat till all the sugar dissolves
3. Now, Increase the heat to med-high and bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Stir from time to time, mashing the strawberries until jam is thickened. This should take around 10 minutes and the pot should be covered with bubbles.
5. When the jam is cool, transfer to a jar.
6. A sealed jar can stay in the fridge for around 10 days.

I must say, that the quantity it yielded was quite disappointing – only one jar. But it was precious all the more because the strawberries were chopped by Ms. Papaya, the lemon juice poured in by her and it was watched over carefully for the last two minutes as the jam bubbled away.

So I would definitely recommend trying this recipe. Especially since the strawberries are getting redder and sweeter every day.

If you do try out this recipe, do let me know in the comments how it came out.

Ciao,