Simple Strawberry Jam

Jam is something which is always in our fridge. I guess when you have school going kids and are working parents, jam, cheese and butter are a staple, for those morning rushes! During our initial days, when the kids were in heaven, we used to have bread, butter and jam every second day. My HD loves his toast that way, which made my life really easy. It was only after having the kids and moving to be with my parents, that habit of his was curbed to a certain extent, thanks to my umma's daily fresh, hot piping breakfast, very unlike her lazy daughter! ;)

Strawberries are now slowly going off season, however still available in the market. One thing I like about UAE is that you get all fruits and vegetables through out the year, fresh on the counter, though the prices may really vary depending on the place it is imported from. Over the last couple of months, there were loads of Egyptian strawberries flooding the market and I was so tempted to keep packs in the fridge. Apart from making the lassi, I wanted to bake a strawberry cake and make some jam as well. The former never happened, as most of the strawberries went directly into the intestine of my kids, however I was able to save some for trying the jam and wasn't I glad I did!!! Everyday, Rasha would only want this jam in her toast to school and my HD would happily have it for breakfast. They even told me that it was much better than the store bought one! Now what better compliment can I get! :)



Ingredients:

2 cups whole strawberries, washed and chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp lime juice

Method:

The first thing to do is to sterilize one glass jar. I used an empty Nutella 340 gm jar, washed it well and boiled it in hot water along with the lid for around 15 minutes. Lift up the bottle using tongs and keep it inverted with mouth down, on a clean kitchen towel to cool and dry.

Add all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to boil. Keep on medium-low flame and continuously stir the mixture. You will start seeing the strawberries becoming pulpy. Keep cooking the mixture, stirring occasionally to ensure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. The strawberries will literally "melt" and become a mass.

Meanwhile, freeze a clean plate for around 20 minutes. To know if the jam is set, drop some quantity on the plate and tilt. If the jam stays on the plate, then it is ready, but if it is runny, then cook further till the consistency is reached. I must have cooked for almost 30 minutes to get the jam ready.

Switch off the flame. Wipe the jar well with a kitchen towel and pour the slightly cooled jam into the bottle. Keep as is for some time. Close with a cleaned lid and leave the bottle inverted for around 20 minutes. This is to avoid any molds from being formed.

Once completely cooled, store in your refrigerator. This quantity hardly lasted a week, my kids and HD were having jam on toast morning and evening during this time! :)

I would really suggest you, in case you are a first timer, to take time and read the link that I have posted on the top. It is so much in detail and will be of really good help... trust me... :)


I have to mention this as I do this post... the idea of the above picture was given to me by Rasha. As I was clicking the snap in the first position, she came and asked me, "Ummi, since this is red, how would people know whether you are taking a picture of strawberry jam or ketchup?" As soon as she said that, she exited the room and I was set thinking. And what she said is right! I didn't even have a single strawberry to keep as a prop, so anybody would get confused. So there you go, I teared up a sheet from her little book and in my "beautiful" handwriting, I wrote what it was. It is good to get some ideas from fresh minds as theirs, right... :)