Haryali Subzi

A very healthy yet delightful dish! You have the goodness of spinach and the crunch, tang and burst of colors from other mixed vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, beans and green peas. I think this preparation will make kids ask for more!

Ever wondered if you were to make a nice dish for someone who loves spinach, what are the chances that you would make Palak Paneer? 90%. Hmmm.. 

I used to always run out of ideas to make spinach interesting, until I came across this recipe. The simple nutty taste of spinach with other garden vegetables coated in a tangy sauce makes it really refreshing! The best part is the spinach and other vegetables retain their individual tastes and yet taste so good together! I just love the way this dish is laid out. You  place the colorful vegetables right on top of a bed of glossy green spinach. Trust me, you will take your kids, family and guests, by surprise. It looks good and tastes even better!

You need:

Spinach puree – 1 Cup (see my notes below to blanch and puree)

Onion – 1 medium (fine chopped)

Ginger – 1 inch (fine chopped)

Garlic – 3-4 cloves (fine chopped)

Nutmeg powder – ¼ tsp

Oil – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Tomato – 1 medium (fine chopped)

Cauliflower – ¼ Cup (or adjust  to liking, should be cut into small florets)

Carrot – 1-2 medium (or adjust  to liking, should be thinly sliced )

Beans – ¼ Cup (or adjust to your liking, cut into 1 inch pieces, )

Sweet baby green peas – ¼ Cup (or adjust to your liking)

Red chili powder – ¼ tsp (adjust to taste)

Garam Masala – ½ tsp

Fresh coriander / Cilantro – 2 tsp (fine chopped)

1. In a heavy bottom pan heat  ½ tsp of oil. 
2. Fry ginger and garlic for 30 seconds. 
3. Add the spinach puree, salt and nutmeg and let it cook. 
4. In a separate non-stick pan, fry chopped onions without using any oil till translucent. 
5. Transfer the onion to the spinach mixture. Add ½ tsp garam masala and continue  to cook till you get a nice thick gravy/ sauce consistency.  
6. In a separate pan, heat remaining oil and add cumin seeds. 
7. Once it splutters, add the tomatoes and salt. Cook the tomatoes till it become pulpy.
8. Add all the vegetables, salt to taste, red chili powder and remaining garam masala. Mix well, cover and cook till 80% done. But make sure they are cooked but still a little crunchy. 
9. Add the coriander leaves and switch off the gas. 
10. Now first transfer the spinach puree into a bowl. Now, on this bed of spinach puree, gently place the vegetables on top. Serve it as is!

* Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add salt, followed by spinach and immediately switch off the flame. Don't cover with any lid. After exactly 2 min. drain out the water out and dip the spinach in chilled water to stop the cooking process. Otherwise it will not only overcook but lose color too. Now blend the spinach  this to get a fine puree. 

** You can also add paneer to this vegetable mix

Kalakand / Milk Cake (Can't get easier than this!)

I still can't believe it's that easy!! I have always associated the whole process of making kalakand with a sore arm and a stiff shoulder. The constant stirring, scraping, watching over the milk for hours and hours makes it appear like a foolish project, especially when you can get it in your neighborhood Indian store quite easily. 

But what if you could make kalakand without all that  fuss? What if it was possible in 30 min in a microwave with absolutely no effort? Whenever you wanted! Are you still thinking there is a catch here. Nah! :)

I always liked this sweet meat the way my mom made - a nice nutty, slightly crunchy almost toffy kinds (and not the typical soft and white ones you find in sweet shops). If you like yours the way I like, cook a little longer, else your job will be done 5-10 min earlier! :) 

You need:

Ricotta Cheese – ½ Cup

Milk powder – 1.5 Cup

Sugar – 1/3 Cup (you can add more if you like it sweeter)

Elaichi Powder - 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste)

Milk - 1/2 Cup (optional, to be added in the end only if you want to make your kalakand a little more moist)

Now comes the easiest part!!

1. Mix all the ingredients except cardamom powder in a large microwave safe bowl. 
2. Pop it in the microwave for 20-25 Min. Stir every 5 min, scraping the sides to cook evenly. If you like your kalakand a little more nutty and brownish, then cook for a little longer time till you get a nice golden brown color of your choice. If you want your kalakand to have a stronger cardamom flavor, add a little more towards the end. 
3. Add ½ cup milk in the last 5 min, to add moisture so that it binds well. (this is totally optional since you may want to do this only if you like your kalakand a little moist)
4. Transfer to a well greased tray and let it cool for 1 hour. 
5. Let it cool for 30-45 min. Using a knife cut into squares/ diamonds or any shape of your choice. 
6. Transfer to refrigerator and chill the kalakand.
7. This stays good for weeks if stored in clean, dry, air-tight container in refrigerator. 

* Feel free to add chopped nuts of your choice or saffron to get different flavors and varieties. 
**This recipe is pretty much flexible. You don't necessarily need to mix the ingredients in the exact same proportion (unlike baking!). A little here and there will not do any harm.

Tomato Egg-Drop Soup

So my friend Sahana (who has been helping me proof-read my blog and championing salt.pepper.chili) calls me early one morning and comes straight to the point (we have always been like that with each other, having known each other for 14 years now!) - "you know what, your blog has just 1 soup and a very few sandwich recipes! You need to have more!". And this got me thinking. Why had I ignored something, which most of us love, but end up eating completely packaged or processed version most of the time. We feel we are giving our kids (and ourselves too) something really healthy, but are packaged/ canned soups really as healthy as you think? With all the preservatives and salt content, well... probably not! 

So next time you feel like having a nice healthy soup, take some fresh ingredients and make your own. And you will not regret it! I will be posting a few of my favorite, quick and easy recipes!So lets start with a very popular chinese style soup we all love! The sweet, tangy soup with this lovely egg ribbons. Just the way they serve in restaurants!

And if you have spent a little time reading this blog, you would know my love for dimsums/momos! I suffer from dimsum fanaticism, yeah that's true :).  So after a few continuous days of indulgences, soup - dimsum - focaccia bread would be such a nice combo! Since I already had lots of the amazing Tuscany Pane bread at home, decided to toast and slather it with soft butter! 

You need: Serves 2

Oil - 1 Tbsp

Ginger - 1/2 inch (finely chopped)

Garlic - 2-3 cloves (finely chopped)

Tomatoes - 2 medium size (Finely chopped/paste) 

Onion - 1/2 medium size (Finely chopped)

Egg - 2 

Tomato ketchup - 2 Tbsp (if you want spicy, replace 1 tbsp with tomato chili sauce)

Vinegar -  1Tbsp

Corn flour - 1 Tbsp

Fresh Coriander/ Cilantro ( including stems) - 6-7 sprigs (chopped finely)

Black Pepper powder -  to taste

Salt to taste

Sugar - 3/4 - 1 tsp (adjust to taste)

Vegetable/ Chicken stock - optional (can replace with water)

1. Break the eggs in a bowl and whisk lightly. Set aside. 
2. Mix the cornflour in 1/2 cup of water. 
3. Heat the oil in a wok or a pan, add ginger and garlic and stir-fry for half a minute.
4. Add onion and continue to stir-fry it it turns lightly translucent. You don't have to brown it. 
5. Add the tomato ketchup (or half tomato ketchup, half tomato chili sauce for a spicy soup) and chopped tomatoes and cook on high heat for about two to three minutes. Cook till its all pulpy. 
6. Stir in the remaining vegetable/ chicken stock or water and bring it to a boil. Add the salt, sugar, black pepper powder. 
7. Stir in the cornflour mixture and cook for a minute or until soup thickens, stirring continuously. 
8. Add the vinegar and cook for a min. Taste the recipe for salt sugar etc at this stage. 
9. Pour 1/4 of the whisked egg at a time from a height in a steady stream. Stir gently 1-2 times to form egg threads. REpeat with the remaining eggs. Allow the egg to coagulate and come to the top. Don't stir too much as you will get all scrambled eggs and no lacy eggs in the soup. 
10. Serve hot garnished with the fresh coriander. Coriander is indeed important.

Phyllo Cup Appetizers - A Gourmet Finger Food

Ever since I discovered Phyllo sheets, have gone bonkers making so many of those finger licking food with crispy wraps - Phyllo cups with savory fillings, Baklava, Chicken rolled in phyllo, variety of Cheese wrapped in phyllo, Samosa stuffing in phyllo, Chocolate in phyllo and so on. Somehow the crispy buttery taste of phyllo goes so well with just about everything. 


Wrap anything you love (of course I meant food ingredients you silly! :)), bake for 10-15 min and you have a speciality of your own!

I made some elegant looking finger food, perfect for a cocktail party. Couldn't resist and ended up making Phyllo Cup Desserts - A Gourmet Finger Food too! When you want to serve your guests something bite size, so that they could taste a variety of  stuff without getting an overdose, this is a perfect option! It looks awesome when displayed on an elegant looking tray, just like gourmet tasting sessions! No one will guess it was so easy to make!! (Just hope my friends who were raving about all my hard-work in making these bite size delicacies are not reading this! :) ) 

You can also make these phyllo cups well in advance and store them in an air-tight container. And then just before your party starts fill them up! If you have something that has a lot of syrup or juice, fill the stuffing just before the guests arrive. You don't want your guests to mistake it to cold  steamed dimsums! :)

This is how Phyllo cups look like in a muffin tray.

You need:

Phyllo dough/ sheet ( found in any Grocery store) 

Melted butter - approx. 1 tbsp

Small muffin tray 

How to make Phyllo Cups:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
2. Place a phyllo sheet on a flat surface. Brush melted butter all over the side facing up, using a pastry brush.
3. Place the next sheet on top of this sheet. 
4. Repeat with butter application and one more sheet. So total of 3 layers of phyllo sheets with melted butter in-between, is what you are looking at. 
5. Now cut these layered  phyllo sheets into 2.5 inch x 2.5 inch squares. 
6. Place one square over another in such a way that it forms an eight end star. Ie; don't place one square on top of another, but a little dispersed so that it looks like a star/ flower and does the job of a cup once placed inside the cups of the muffin tin.
7. Lightly grease the muffin tray. Now place sheet on the cup of a  muffin tin and push the centre so that it forms a cup.
8. Now bake it for 7 min or until its golden brown. 
9. Flip the cups gently and bake for 2-3 more minutes so that the base too becomes crispy.  
10. Now they are ready to be filled with anything you fancy!

Ideas for the Filling:

• Soft brie cheese with olive
• Hummus with pine nuts or pomegranate seeds. 
• Mango Salsa – Chopped mango tossed with fine chopped red chilies, parsley, salt, lime juice and sugar. 
• Cooked shrimps/ prawns tossed with thousand island dressing
• Chopped boiled potatoes with mint chutney and a tsp of yogurt to make it into an Indian chat
• Tomato salsa
• Chopped boiled egg with chives, salt and pepper. 
• And whatever you fancy.  There are no set rules!

*Use only unsalted butter and please don't use any other spread or vegetable spread. I tried to avoid butter and instead decided to use melted vegetable spread that tastes like butter. I melted the spread in a dish and soon had a film of vegetable oil floating on water. The phyllo sheets got only water between the layers and I ended up with a sticky gooey baklava instead of the flaky layers. I had to redo to perfect it! :(

** Try using an organic phyllo dough. Keep them frozen till you are ready to make your cup cakes. These sheets thaw in minutes. Keep a moist kitchen towel handy to cover the those sheets which are in the queue.

Appam (Rice flour Pancake - Kerala Cuisine)

No Kerala style stew is complete without appams. It must be a torture to both stew and the appam. It must be like pulling the twins aparts. It's like asking you to chose between Tiramisu and Trifle Pudding! That's quite dramatic, isn't it!! Having watched Bollywood all my life, you couldn't expect any lesser! :) But that also means I just love eating hot appams with this nice flavorful stew! Appams (Plain hoppers) are nothing but pancakes made from riceflour and coconut milk with a spongy center. They are nice, sweet, succulent and crispy, all at the same time. 

And yeah, there is another version! If you are a bulls-eye or sunny-side-up lover, then Mutta- Appam (Egg Hopper) is your kind of thing. You have the egg broken right in the centre of the appam. Nothing like alternating between dipping your appam into stew and an egg!


Treat your friends to a nice dinner from 'God's Own Country - Kerala'!

You need:

Rice Flour - 2 cups

Rapid Rise Highly Active Yeast – 1 tsp

Sugar – 3 tbsp

Rava/ Semolina – 2 tbsp

Thick Coconut Milk – 1/2 to 1 Cup (I use Thai brand canned coconut milk)

Water – As needed

Salt – 1 tsp 

Preparing the batter:

1. First you need to make the rava paste. This is the only step that requires any work at all, rest all is just mixing the ingredients. For making rava paste, take 2 cups of water and 2 Tbsp of rava in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil stirring continuously and then boil it on simmer flame till it is reduced to almost half. Stir continuously so that the rava doesn’t lump up or stick to the base.  When the mixture changes to a thick paste, almost to the consistency of custard or porridge, remove it from heat and allow it to cool completely.
2. In a large bowl (since it will rise to almost double when fermented) combine rice flour, sugar, cooled rava paste, rapid rise yeast along with 1/2 cup coconut milk and salt. Add around 1/2 to 1 cup water or more and whisk everything to form a smooth and thick batter. The batter should be thick because after fermentation it will rise and become thinner in consistency.
3. Leave the batter in a warm place for around 3-4 hours and allow it to ferment. I prefer to pre-heat the oven to the 150 F for 5 min and switch off the oven. Then place the bowl with batter in the oven and keep the door closed. 
4. Once the batter is ready, adjust the consistency by adding water. It should be similar to that of a dosa batter. 

Making the appams:

1. Heat a non stick pan on medium flame. The pan should be slightly deep in the center. Like a small non-stick kadhai. 
2. Pour ladle full of batter into pan and swirl the pan lightly, spreading batter to the sides of the pan. And a little should batter should be left to collect in the center of the pan. 
3. Cover with lid and allow it to cook for around 3 minutes on medium heat. When the center of appam is done (basically the entire appam should be spongy and not have any white uncooked patch) and the edges start detaching, remove the appam carefully from the pan. There is no need to flip it to the other side to cook or brown.  If you like your appams more crispy and golden brown, add a little more sugar to the batter.
4. To make mutta-appam (egg appam), just break and egg in the centre of the appam once it has been cooked for a while and the centre is a little firm. You need the center of the appam to be cooked a little so as to not get have a puddle of batter uncooked beneath the egg. It's like serving an egg sunny side up in the center of an appam!

* I use Fleischman Rapid Rise Yeast for quicker fermentation. If you are using Ordinary Active Dry Yeast, then mix the yeast in lukewarm water (105 F-115 F) with 1 tsp of sugar. Keep it aside for 7-10 min. till the mixture gets frothy. Make sure the water is not too hot as it will kill the yeast and the fermentation will not happen in 3-4 hours. If such a thing does happen, just let it ferment naturally for 9-10 hrs in a warm place.

 **As always, I insist, please use a whisk to make the batter. It will lump-free with no effort at all! :)

Vegetable Stew - Kerala Cusine (Mild coconut based Veg-Stew)

What can I say! My first appam-stew experience was at my friend's (Leena Mohan) place when I was in school. Ever since I have been absolutely bonkers over this delicious, mild, flavorful stew served with crunchy yet soft sweet appams (pan cakes). Infact I can have this stew just like that as my dinner! One of those things I absolutely adore. 

My love affair with appam-stew continued at Coconut Grove (Bangalore, Church Street). The guys at Coconut Grove (CG) always got some extra stew for me since they knew one bowl wasn't sufficient! The appams were always served one after another so that they come steaming hot into your plate. Of course fried fish was an integral part of this combo in CG. The music was relaxing, the tender coconut water was soothing, the fried fish was tongue tickling and the appam stew was comforting. I still love going to CG on any given day! 

Ok, so since CG can't come here, I have there is work cut out for myslef to re-create the appam-stew magic! So I called my sister-in-law Nisha (who is originally from - god's own country – Kerala) to get the authentic stew recipe. Now I know,  a typical staple food made at home can never have a standard recipe (for that matter there is nothing called the real authentic recipe, each one has their own version based on taste and liking). But then, there is always that one little secret which only mom's know! And Nisha had her mom next to her explaining the recipe to me! That's called luck! And trust me, I got that one secret ingredient from her which no recipe (books, online, cookery show) mentions. And that is saunf/ fennel powder. The minute I tasted the stew, I knew it, I had hit the jackpot!! I have made this stew countless number of times, but this time around, the CG taste was in my stew!!! Ah the stew!!

Just realised, I was here to share the recipe! :) Last quick note - check out the nice dinner menu from 'God's Own Country - Kerala'!

You need: 

(serves 2 – I could have eaten it all alone but there were two of us for dinner :) )

Potatoes – 2 medium size (boiled, peeled and roughly cut into cubes)

Pearl white onions – ½ Cup (or cut onions into big chunks)

Carrot – 1 medium (peeled and cut into 1 cm pieces)

Green chilies – 2-3 (slit)

Bay leaf – 1 no. 

Cloves – 3-4

Green cardamom – 3-4

Cinnamon stick – 1 inch

Curry leaves – 7-10 

Saunf powder – 1.5 tsp (must, must, this is the secret ingredient)

Coriander powder – 1 tsp 

Salt – to taste

Coconut oil – 2 tsp  (will be used in parts)

Good quality coconut milk – 14-16 Oz can (I used almost half, you may want to adjust this as per your taste and the quality of the coconut milk)

1. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pressure cooker, add green chilies, bayleaf, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick. curry leaves and fry for 30 secs. 
2. Now add the saunf and coriander powder. Fry for 15 sec. 
3. Add carrots and pearl onions. Give a stir and add enough water to just cover the vegetables. 
4. On a high flame pressure cook the vegetables for exact 3 min. Whether whistle happens or not, switch off the heat and ease the pressure. You could either run it under cold water or lift the whistle. This is to make sure the vegetables are cooked but still firm. 
5. Transfer all the contents to a sauce pan, add the potatoes and bring to a boil. 
6. After 5 min, add the coconut milk and adjust the salt. Cook for min, drizzle the remaining 1 tsp coconut oil and mix (you can skip this if you don't like the smell of coconut so much but it does make a difference). 
7. Switch off and serve hot with hot appams! 
8. Once the stew cools it thickens a little so adjust the consistency if you plan to cool it a little and eat. But this dish should be eaten steaming hot!

*You can also make appams with hardly any effort. Try the Appam and Mutta-Appam recipe. 

Egg Patty

Here comes something all eggitarians will love! I have many friends who enjoy eating eggs but don't get many varieties of egg-based snack/ appetizer at home or while eating out. This has a nice mild taste of an egg, even though you never feel you are biting into one. A bite and it will leave you guessing – where's the egg! These nice crisp golden brown bites are heavenly!

This patty is supposed to be deep fried, but nah, that's way too much oil! Pan fried with a little oil works just fine! Remember, always try adding ajwain/carrom seeds when you are using besan/ gramflour to fry something. They compliment each other and at the same time have digestive properties. You will not experience the typical heaviness after gorging on fried stuff if you add the ajwain. 

For your next party, you can make them in different shapes and sizes for a pretty looking appetizer tray! I am posting two pics. One to show you the texture and second one to show you shapes you can try making. But don't worry if the shapes don't come out perfect, the egg patty will still be delectable! Serve it with some hot spicy chili sauce! A word of caution here – always keep some distance from the pan as you fry them, since the eggs just pop a little bit as they turn golden brown. Don't let this scare you, it's all easy and safe, just that a word of caution for a safe kitchen! :)

You need:

(makes 10-12 pcs)

Large boiled eggs – 5-6 nos. (see my note below for a perfectly boiled egg)

Besan/ Gramflour – ¾ Cup

Ajwain/ Carrom seeds – ¼ tsp

Salt – to taste

Green chilies – 2-3 nos. (finely chopped)

Spring Onions – 5-6 nos.  (finely chopped, use both white and green part)

Crushed black pepper – ¼ tsp 

Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp

Water – 2 Tbsp

Oil – enough to pan fry (I used 1 tbsp for a batch of 6 patties in total f)

1. In a wide bowl, grate boiled eggs using a thick side of the grater. Don't use the fine grater as the eggs will get mashed up and the patties will not have any texture. If you don't have a thick grater, fine chop the eggs instead.
2. Add besan, ajwain, salt, green chilies, spring onions, black pepper and baking soda. Add very very little water, just about 2 tbsp of water. This should be enough to bind the ingredients as the egg yolk is sticky enough already.   You may add 1 tsp of water at a time to adjust the consistency of the patty mixture if its still too dry.
3. Divide the mixture into 12 equal parts. Shape them any way you like! 
4. In a non-stick pan, heat 1 Tbsp of oil and fry the patties till golden brown in color. Cook them on medium high so that they cook through and also have a golden brown crispy exterior.
5. Serve with spicy chili sauce, red or green, I leave it to your discretion. :)

Soya Chunk & Mushroom Pulao/ Pilaf

A hearty meal in itself! Mild pulao with a nutty flavor! A good meal when you want to go easy after a tiring day and not keen to do elaborate cooking and yet eat something nice. Very nutritious too with all the vegetables, mushrooms and a good source of protein with soya chunks. 

A good meal combo would be - Mushroom Soya chunk Pulao, Boondi raita and pan - grilled eggplant slices seasoned with just salt and pepper. (make half inch thick slices and  pan-grill on high flame with very little oill). Adding quartered boiled eggs for eggetarian does the trick!

You need:

Mushroom Soy Chunk Pulao/ Pilaf

Basmati Rice – 1 cup (washed, soaked for  not more than 30-45 min and drained)

Mushrooms – 1 Cup (sliced thick)

Soya Nuggets – ½ Cup 

Salt – 1 tsp

Lime Juice – 2 tsp (replace with lemon)

Green Chili – 2-3 (adjust to taste)

Mint Leaves – 5-6 (fine chopped)

Fresh green coriander / Cilantro – 1 Tbsp ()finely chopped)

Oil/ Butter  – 1.5 Tbsp

Bay Leaf – 1

Cinnamon Stick – 1 inch piece

Green Cardamom – 4

Cloves – 6

Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp

Onion – 1/2 cup, chopped

Ginger – 1 Tbsp, (grated)

Garlic – 1 Tbsp (grated)

Garam Masala – 1 tsp

Green peas – 1/2 cup (try using organic baby sweet peas as they are super soft and sweet, thawed)

Red Bell Pepper – ¼ Cup (chopped, replace with green bell peppers as this is just to add color)

Yellow Bell Pepper – ¼ Cup (chopped, replace with green bell peppers as this is just to add color)

Water – 2 cups

1. Add salt, lime juice to boiling water in a sauce pan. Add the mushrooms and soya nuggets. Cover the lid, turn off the heat and let it sit for 15-20 min. Separate all the mushrooms and soya chunks from the liquid (broth). Squeeze out all the water from the soya nuggets too. Reserve the broth as it has all the flavor and goodness and we use it to cook the rice. This process also helps mushroom and soya chunks to retain their texture in the pulao.
2. Heat oil/ butter in a non-stick pan which is a little deep and has a cover.
3. Fry bay leaf, cinnamon stick, green cardamom and cloves till it leaves aroma (approx 30 sec.) and then the cumin seeds. 
4. Add onions, ginger, garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes until translucent.
5. Now add the mint and coriander leaves and fry for 30 sec. 
6. Add garam masala and yogurt. Fry till completely dry. 
7. Add mushrooms and soy chunks. Cut the bigger soya nuggets into half  so that they are all of same size. Remember to squeeze out all the water out of the soy chunks before you add them to the pan as they will make the rice gooey with all the water content. Cook until mushrooms  are golden brown and caramelized. Dont worry about soy chunks as they are cooked and firm enough 
8. Add rice, green peas, red and yellow bell peppers. Mix well. Be gentle as the rice grains can break very easily. Cook for 1 minute or until it is coated well with the oil and spices.
9. Add the broth you got from the mushroom and soy chunks.
10. Let it come to a boil with the lid open. Once it comes to a rapid boil, put the lid on, reduce the heat to simmer and cook for exact 15 min. Please do not open in-between as the steam/ moisture will escape and rice grains will not cook evenly. So don't worry, the rice will not stick or burn. There is enough moisture inside to let it cook nicely. 
11. After 15 minutes, turn off heat, gently fluff the pulao a little to separate rice grains but at the same time not break the grains.
12. Cover again and allow the pulao to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

*You can also add pav bhaji masala instead of garam masala for a nice twist. It does taste good!!

Strawberry Jam

There is something very comforting about making fresh jam at home. You pick your seasonal fruits, make your jam, spread it on bread, cake, top it on ice-cream or eat it just like that straight out of the bottle. You can use any berry of your choice (blueberry, lingonberry, cranberry etc.) depending on your preference. Whats more comforting is that it is completely natural!

This jam does not use any pectin or artificial agent. The sugar makes it thick and the lime juice stops sugar from crystallizing as it thickens. So this recipe is quite fool proof.


I make my jam a little thinner than normal consistency. And this is because I love (apart from slathering a lot of it on home baked bread) adding fruit jam/ preserve to ice-creams, sandwiching it between biscuits, adding a thick layer of jam and cream on a slice of pound cake and many more things. It is super versatile! I love making jams!!

You need:

Ripe Strawberries – 16 oz, washed and hulled

Sugar – 1/2 cup

Fresh Lime Juice – 1 Tbsp

1. Quarter the strawberries (if you like your jam chunky) or pulse it in a food processor (if you like it smooth).
2. Add strawberries, sugar and lime juice into heavy bottom saucepan and mix well.
3. Bring it to a boil on medium/high heat as you stir it so that no part of the strawberries or sugar sticks to the pan. You will see that the sugar will melt quickly and the juices of the strawberries will also ooze out making it very liquidy. Till this point stir continuously.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking for 20-25 minutes stirring intermittently. Once the jam is cooked well and all the moisture has evaporated, the whitish bubble/ frothy layer will disappear. (The bubbles will in fact become reddish in color once its ready). At this stage stir frequently to avoid the thickened jam from sticking to the bottom or sides.
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Since the jam will thicken a little once it cools you can thicken it according to the consistency you like. I like mine a little thinner than the store bought jams, as its easier to spread and lighter to eat.
6. While it is still a little warm, transfer to a clean and dry jar. Allow jam to cool completely, before sealing the bottle.

*This jam will last you a month if the bottle is clean and totally dry. Always try using a dry spoon or knife to scoop out jam.