Apple-Banana Jam

I had made this jam in the first week of December and as mentioned in an earlier post, we had a tough time throughout last month. Yes, we lost our dear “acchan” 🙁 He was hospitalized for ten days from 3 rd December to 13 th December. And then I was at my in-laws place from December 13- December 25. I had composed some parts of the recipe, the day I made this jam, but couldn’t click pictures of the final product. Frankly speaking, even today (4th January 2020), I do not have a picture of the jam. It’s stored in two glass bottles

and is in the refrigerator. And yes it still tastes good. Tomorrow morning, I shall surely click few pictures and publish this post. Finally today morning (12 th January 2020), i could click a couple of pictures of the jam 🙂

This home made jam is loaded with lot of beautiful childhood memories. My mom used to make it every winter when the local markets would be flooded with Kashmiri and Simla apples. Unlike these days where apples are available throughout the year, back then, they were usually seen only during winters. I still remember, when my little sister was born and we were in the hospital, my mom had made a big bottle of this jam, so that myself and bhai could enjoy these with bread. I had always wanted to make this at home, but somehow it never happened. Finally, when last week we had guests at home and there were lots of apples and bananas left over after they left, I decided to try this at home. And I must say that it tastes really good. You may however increase the amount of sugar incase you have a very sweet tooth. I might have to finish the whole batch myself and hence have tried to keep the sugar levels very low.

Ingredients:

• Apple 1 kg
• Banana 1/2 kg
• Apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon stick 2 inches long (or)
• Cinnamon powder 1 tsp
• Cane sugar 250 g

Method:

• Peel the apples and bananas and chop them into small cubes.

• Transfer them into a heavy bottomed sauce pan and add around a cup of water.

• Bring it to a boil and cover and cook till the fruits are soft and mushy.

• Mash the fruits using an immersion blender or pulse it in a mixer.

• Transfer the puree back into the sauce pan and add cinnamon stick or cinnamon powder. Add the apple cider vinegar.
• Cook again for 10-15 minutestill the mixture thickens a bit.
• Now add the cane sugar and cook on low flame for an hour. Keep stirring constantly.

• Try spooning a bit of the jam and check whether it sets on cooling.

• Remove from fire and cool completely.
• Store them in sterilized airtight containers.
• Enjoy with a slice of home made bread.

Notes:

• If you really like a sweeter jam, you can increase the amount of sugar to around 500 grams. I deliberately made it a mildly sweet one.
• You can skip the bananas and take equal quantity of apples.
• You may use other fruits like plums, cherries etc.
• Few cloves or clove powder can be added for extra flavour.
• Cinnamon lends a beautiful flavour to the jam.