Mamta's Kitchen

Orange Marmalade, Mamta's Dad Suresh Chandra Gupta's

Orange Marmalade, Mamta's Dad's

Suresh Chandra Gupta

Note from MamtaThis recipe comes from my late father, who was the chief jam and pickle maker in our house. It is at least 60 years old! This is the first time I have tried this recipe and it came out very well. He used Indian oranges, I have used Seville oranges, which are slightly bitter in taste with a strong fragrance. They come from Spain and are available for a very short period, in January and February only. You can try other bitter oranges - Mamta

Ingredients

  • 1 kg. (2 lb. approximately) Seville oranges,

  • 1 large lemon

  • 2.5 kg. (5 lb. approximately) granulated sugar

  • 3 litre or 6 pints boiling water

Instructions

  1. Scrub fruit in warm water to remove insecticides and wax.

  2. Cut into very thin slices. Collect all juice that drip during cutting, in a bowl.

  3. Squeeze/pick out the pips from the flesh & save in a small muslin piece, tie and place in a pan with enough boiling water to cover and keep aside overnight.

  4. Place sliced oranges, including flesh, and dripped juices in a preserving pan and add 2 1/2 litre or 5 pints of boiling water. Allow to stand overnight (12 hours).

  5. Next morning, transfer the oranges to a preserving/large pan.

  6. Add pips tied in muslin, and the water they were soaking in, to the same pan.

  7. Bring to boil and cook until peel is soft and disintegrates when pressed with a finger. This takes 1 3/4 to 2 hours. Lift out and squeeze the 'pips bag' into the main pan. Now discard pips. Turn heat down.

  8. Add sugar (warmed a little if possible) and dissolve thoroughly, on gentle heat. This is important.

  9. Now bring it to boil and boil briskly until setting point is reached* (temperature 220° F or 105° C). This usually take 20-25 minutes but depends on the pectin content. Therefore, start testing after 15 minutes. Turn the heat down while testing for the setting point or it may overcook. Setting point is reached when 1 tsp. marmalade placed on a chilled plate will crinkle when parted with a finger. If left for a minute, it will set (you can place 1-2 saucers in the freezer to chill them for this purpose). Another way of testing for setting point is that you allow the liquid to drip from the side of a wooden paddle/spatula. If it drips as thin syrup, it is not ready. If it partly congeals and breaks off from the spatula in triangles or triangular sheets, and the last triangle keeps hanging from the ladle for 10 seconds or so, it is ready.

  10. Cool for 20 minutes. This will prevent the fruit from rising to the top of the jar. If you bottle while very hot, all fruit rises to the top.

  11. While marmalade is cooling, heat jars (lids removed) in an oven at around 120 C.

  12. Stir the jam & fill it in sterilised jars using a metal funnel, right to the top. It shrinks a little when cool. It is a good idea to stand a metal spoon in the jar while filling. This stops the jars from cracking.

  13. Close screw top lids and turn the jar up-side-down. This creates a better seal and prevents mould formation-Tip from Ian Hoar.

  14. Leave until completely cold. Wipe clean, label & store.

Notes

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