Most of the Indian fruits require different treatment to
English fruits in making jam, owing to the wateriness of
the pulp and its tasteless quality. For this reason it is always
advisable to boil the fruit down well before adding the sugar,
the evaporation making the juice heavier and of better
flavour. The sweetness again necessitates long boiling, as
sugar put into the full orthodox quantity, viz. equal weight,
makes Indian jams dead sweet, while the addition of lemon-
juice impairs the flavour peculiar to each fruit.
1. Anisette. — Aniseed 4 units, coriander and sweet fennel seed
1 unit each. Macerate for five days in six bottles of gin. Add 32
units of sugar, letting it dissolve of itself. It is best weighed solid
in the lump and allowed to dissolve.
2. Apricot Jam. — Apricots are almost the only fruits which can
he treated in English fashion. Skin the fruit and halve, removing
the stones. Take equal units of sugar and fruit, and mix in layers.
Let it stand for twelve hours. Then put into a preserving pan,
and boil till the apricots get clear. About five minutes before re-
moving add the blanched kernels of the stones. Tipparees can be
boiled this way.
3. Apricot or Peach Chutni. — These and many other kinds of
chutnies are made by boiling fruit pulp with sugar till it is thick,
then adding vinegar, salt, raisins, and spices. The proportions are
generally 16 units of fruit pulp, 12 of vinegar, 8 of sugar and
raisins, and from 2 to 4 each of salt, ginger, chillies, and garlic
according to fancy.
4. Cherry Brandy.— Half fill some bottles with crushed hill
cherries, and then fill up to the neck with white sugar. No. 1.
Pour in as much rum, brandy, or whisky as the bottles will hold.
Stand for a month. Then strain and filter till clear. Or six bottles
of brandy and six of cherries, each cherry pricked with needles.
339
34° The Complete Indian
Allow them to macerate for a fortnight with two bruised bitter
almonds in each bottle. Strain^ add 32 units of loaf-sugar✪ Cherry Brandy. Put
a few of the cherries into clean bottles, fill up with the strained
liqueur, and cork.
5. Citron Marmalade. — Boil citrons in salt and water for four
hours, changing the water three times. They are done if the head
of a pin can be pressed into the rind. Remove the pulp, and slice
the skins very fine without removing any of the white part. If
the bitterness of citron is not liked, just pare off the outer yellow
skin. Carefully remove pips, skin, and stringy bits from the pulp,
and put to the sliced skins, lo every unit of this allow 1 unit of
sugar✪ Citron Marmalade. Boil for thirty minutes.
6. Date Pickle. — Carefully remove the stones from fresh dates,
and fill up with the mixture as in mango pickle, but adding fenu-
greek (methi') seed. Put into bottles, and cover with salt. In three
days remove the salt, and fill with highly-spiced vinegar✪ Date Pickle.
Page 237 · 3 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Most of the Indian fruits require different treatment to English fruits in making jam, owing to the wateriness of the pulp and its tasteless quality. For this reason it is always advisable to boil the fruit down well before adding the sugar, the evaporation making the juice heavier and of better flavour. The sweetness again necessitates long boiling, as sugar put into the full orthodox quantity, viz. equal weight, makes Indian jams dead sweet, while the addition of lemonjuice impairs the flavour peculiar to each fruit.
1. Anisette. — Aniseed 4 units, coriander and sweet fennel seed 1 unit each. Macerate for five days in six bottles of gin. Add 32 units of sugar, letting it dissolve of itself. It is best weighed solid in the lump and allowed to dissolve.
2. Apricot Jam. — Apricots are almost the only fruits which can he treated in English fashion. Skin the fruit and halve, removing the stones. Take equal units of sugar and fruit, and mix in layers. Let it stand for twelve hours. Then put into a preserving pan, and boil till the apricots get clear. About five minutes before removing add the blanched kernels of the stones. Tipperary can be boiled this way.
3. Apricot or Peach Chutni. — These and many other kinds of chutnies are made by boiling fruit pulp with sugar till it is thick, then adding vinegar, salt, raisins, and spices. The proportions are generally 16 units of fruit pulp, 12 of vinegar, 8 of sugar and raisins, and from 2 to 4 each of salt, ginger, chillies, and garlic according to fancy.
4. Cherry Brandy.— Half fill some bottles with crushed hill cherries, and then fill up to the neck with white sugar. No. 1. Pour in as much rum, brandy, or whisky as the bottles will hold. Stand for a month. Then strain and filter till clear. Or six bottles of brandy and six of cherries, each cherry pricked with needles.
34° The Complete Indian
Allow them to macerate for a fortnight with two bruised bitter almonds in each bottle. Strain^ add 32 units of loaf-sugar. Put a few of the cherries into clean bottles, fill up with the strained liqueur, and cork.
5. Citron Marmalade. — Boil citrons in salt and water for four hours, changing the water three times. They are done if the head of a pin can be pressed into the rind. Remove the pulp, and slice the skins very fine without removing any of the white part. If the bitterness of citron is not liked, just pare off the outer yellow skin. Carefully remove pips, skin, and stringy bits from the pulp, and put to the sliced skins, lo every unit of this allow 1 unit of sugar. Boil for thirty minutes.
6. Date Pickle. — Carefully remove the stones from fresh dates, and fill up with the mixture as in mango pickle, but adding fenugreek (methi') seed. Put into bottles, and cover with salt. In three days remove the salt, and fill with highly-spiced vinegar.
Records on this page
Cherry BrandyCitron MarmaladeDate Pickle