Classic recipe for the winter
To prepare pomegranate jam for the winter you will need the following products:
- 4 large fruits (at the rate of 1 kg);
- 1 glass of sugar (250 g);
- 1 glass of pomegranate juice.
The presented food set will yield ½ kg of jam. Cooking time 1 hour 30 minutes.
How to prepare a simple recipe:
- Pomegranates can be bought both ripe and not so ripe. The fruit should be dense and heavy, which means it has a lot of grains. The peel should be free of dents, abrasions and rot.
- Peel the fruit down to the grains. The peels and partitions should not be thrown away. They can be dried for later use. Wash the grains, they are ready for cooking.
- Juice for jam can be bought at the store. It's better to cook it yourself. Take an additional amount of fruit and squeeze it in your usual way.
- Pour pomegranate liquid into a shallow pan and add sugar. Heat over heat until sugar is completely dissolved. The syrup must be cooled.
- Place the prepared grains into the cooled syrup and bring to a boil over low heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Cool the jam.
- Repeat the boiling procedure two more times. After each batch, it is important to cool the jam so that in the future it acquires a thick consistency.
Don't be alarmed that the jam turns out runny. During storage it will become viscous and thick. Store in any cool place. You can add a little lemon juice to the jam prepared according to this recipe.
Important! During cooking, make sure that the product does not thicken. As soon as droplets of jam stop spreading over a flat surface, remove the pan from the heat. If this is not done, the pomegranate delicacy will be dark and not tasty.
How to make pomegranate compote - step by step recipe with photos
Benefits of pomegranate jam
The pomegranate is called the royal fruit, not so much for its crown, but also for its unique composition and health benefits. Due to the high content of vitamins (C, P, B6, B5, B12, E), and minerals (magnesium, phosphorus, iron, calcium, potassium, sodium, etc.), preparations made from it are used to prevent decreased immunity, arrhythmia, anemia , mental fatigue, chronic fatigue, viral infections. Below we describe in detail how to prepare pomegranate jam with seeds and a step-by-step recipe with photos.
Fruit selection
When choosing fruits for making pomegranate jam, you must take into account that pomegranate seeds should be large, fleshy and juicy. Fruits with small, dry grains are not suitable for jam. Since pomegranate seeds are located inside the fruit, you can find out what they look like without cutting the pomegranate by looking at some external signs:
- The shape of the fruit should be slightly ribbed, and the peel should be somewhat dry, sometimes with shallow dark cracks. If there are soft dents in the peel, it means the inside of the fruit is rotten.
- Ripe juicy fruits are heavy in weight.
- The color of the peel should not be light. The color of the peel of ripe pomegranate for jam varies from dark pink to burgundy-gray. The variety of pomegranates with greenish-brown skin is not suitable for jam. The grains in them will be white or slightly pink.
- It’s good if the crown of the pomegranate is covered with clay - this is a sign that the gardener who grew the fruit took care to ensure that harmful insects and rain moisture did not get inside.
Is it possible to make pomegranate jam at home?
To prepare pomegranate jam at home for the winter, first of all, you need to prepare pomegranate seeds. Keep in mind that pomegranate peels contain tannins, which, when in contact with the skin, leave dark spots on the skin for a long time. If pomegranate juice gets under your nails, it will be almost impossible to get rid of the dark halo underneath. Therefore, grenades are cleaned using thin rubber gloves. If for some reason the fruit is peeled without them, then the darkened skin can be wiped with a slice of lemon - the stains will become less noticeable.
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Pomegranate fruits prepared for jam are washed, then, without damaging the berries, the upper part of each fruit is carefully cut off, along with the crown. Next, the pomegranate peel is lightly cut from above, from the crown to the bottom, with a sharp knife and broken along the cut. All grains are freed from thin films, placed in a clean container, and washed 2-3 times under running water. After the water has drained, the pomegranate seeds are ready for use.
How to get natural pomegranate juice for jam
Ready-made natural pomegranate juice can be bought in the store. But it is preferable to squeeze it from pomegranate fruits or pomegranate seeds yourself.
In this case, to make jam you will need twice as many pomegranates as indicated in the list of ingredients used. If you are confident in the quality of the fruits used, then to obtain pomegranate juice, there is no need to disassemble it into grains.
Without damaging the peel, the fruit is gradually softened by gently pressing it with your hands from all sides. Next, you can roll the fruit a little on the table. This is done very carefully, as the peel may tear and the juice will splash out in all directions. Stains of pomegranate juice that get on the fabric are difficult to wash off. When the pomegranate becomes soft enough, lightly pierce the peel with the tip of a sharp knife and gently squeeze the juice into the prepared container.
If you are not sure that the fruit does not have internal flaws, then the standard procedure is used to extract the juice - the pomegranate is peeled, the grains are removed and the juice is squeezed out of them. In this case, you can use a manual juicer with a press or clean gauze. Using an electric juicer is not advisable, since the juice contains particles of pomegranate seeds, cut so finely that they are difficult to filter.
To prepare the syrup, pomegranate juice and granulated sugar, taken in equal proportions, are mixed in a saucepan and brought to a boil over medium heat for 5 minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved. The syrup is then allowed to cool.
The prepared pomegranate seeds are placed in the cooled syrup and put back on the fire for 5-7 minutes. Then turn off the fire and allow the jam to cool. The procedure is repeated 2-3 more times. At first it seems that the jam is similar to compote, since it does not have thickness.
But when cooking you need to be very careful - the moment of thickening comes very quickly. And if this moment is not caught, the jam will be spoiled - it will become viscous and dark like tar. Therefore, this recipe for pomegranate jam suggests that it is better to reduce the cooking time and increase the number of approaches. Pomegranate jam with seeds for the winter should have a bright, rich color and crispy seeds.
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How to eat jam from pomegranate seeds
Pomegranate jam can be served not only with tea, but also as a seasoning for dishes, as a replacement for maple or lingonberry syrup. It is also used if there is no narsharab - this is the name of pomegranate sauce for meat or fish.
Housewives prepare delicious jam from almost any fruit, berries and even vegetables. In winter, this sweet treat helps replenish the deficiency of many vitamins. It can also be served with tea or used in making pies. In our article we will tell you how to cook delicious pomegranate arena. We offer several recipes for this unusual delicacy to choose from.
With walnuts
An equally tasty delicacy is pomegranate combined with walnuts. It has an interesting taste and a huge amount of useful substances, so it is a special delicacy. And it’s not difficult to prepare.
Ingredients:
- pomegranate – 3 pcs.;
- sugar – 750 g;
- pomegranate juice – 500 ml;
- chopped walnuts – 250 g.
Step-by-step cooking process:
- Peel ripe fruits. Of the received amount of grains, set aside 1/5.
- Squeeze the juice from the remaining pomegranate mass.
- Pour the juice into an enamel bowl and add sugar. Prepare syrup from the ingredients over low heat. Cook for about 25 minutes.
- Add crushed nuts, pomegranate and vanillin to the finished syrup on the tip of a knife, cook for another 20 minutes.
- Pour into jars. Put away for storage.
Important! It is not recommended to cover the pan during cooking.
Seedless jam recipe
For people who do not like whole pomegranate seeds in jam, the following option for preparing it is suitable. The sequence of actions will be as follows:
- Pour 650 g of grains, 100 g of sugar into a saucepan, pour 100 ml of pomegranate juice. Add the juice of a whole lemon.
- Place the pan on the stove and cook the berries over medium heat for 20 minutes.
- Grind the soft grains through a sieve, placing a clean pan underneath. The bones can be placed in a separate plate, and then squeezed out again through several layers of gauze. Add another 100 g of sugar and continue cooking the pomegranate jam for 15 minutes.
- Place the finished treat into sterilized jars and cover with lids. Store the jam in the refrigerator until spring. This jam can be served with toast, pancakes or cheesecakes for breakfast.
Pomegranate with apple
Jam made from apples and pomegranate seeds looks very original.
You will need:
- apples – 1.3 kg;
- medium pomegranate – 1 pc.;
- sugar – 0.5 kg;
- ground cinnamon 2 pinches;
- dried ginger 1 pinch.
Cooking method:
- Wash the apples, remove the core and seeds. Depending on the size, cut into pieces. Sprinkle the chopped apple with sugar, mix and leave for a couple of hours so that the sugar dissolves from the juice.
- Get grains from pomegranate.
- Bring the settled apples to a boil over low heat and cook for 1 hour from the moment of boiling.
- Add the remaining ingredients and cook for another 30 minutes.
- Cool the jam and pour into portioned jars. Seal tightly with lids.
- Place in a cool, dark place.
With lemon
If you like to experiment, you will love this recipe. If you like sweeter jam, the amount of sugar can be increased to 3/4 cup.
Ingredients:
- pomegranate – 3 pcs.;
- half a glass of sugar;
- half a lemon;
- half a glass of pomegranate juice.
You can add a pinch of ground chili pepper to this recipe; it will make the taste inimitable and less sour. The cooking procedure will not take you much time, except for cleaning the pomegranate.
Preparation:
- Remove the seeds from the pomegranates and place them in a saucepan.
- Add sugar and pepper, pour in pomegranate juice. On the stove, with the indicator on medium heat, bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes.
- Turn off the stove and cool the jam.
- Place into chilled jars.
Important! To make jam, you must use enamel dishes; aluminum is not suitable, as it oxidizes. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Recipe 2. Seedless pomegranate jam
Pomegranate seedless jam has a consistency similar to sweet jam with a beautiful ruby color. It is prepared in much the same way as with seeds, but with minor changes.
Ingredients:
- fresh ripe pomegranates – 3.5 kg;
- fresh lemon/lime – 300 gr.;
- sugar in sand/powder/piece – 4 kg;
- mineral/spring water with gas – 100 g.
Step-by-step preparation
- Peel all the pomegranates and remove all the seeds. Place them in a bowl or large bowl.
- Using a food processor or juicer, squeeze the juice from all the pomegranate seeds and pour it into a stainless steel basin/pan where the jam will be prepared.
- Add sparkling mineral water to the pomegranate juice in a saucepan/basin. Boil.
- Pour all the sugar into the boiling water-pomegranate solution and, reducing the heat to the slowest setting, stirring occasionally, dissolve it.
- Remove the sweet water-pomegranate solution from the heat and cool completely. Boil and cool three more times.
- Wash fresh lemons/limes and halve them. Squeeze juice from each half using a special citrus juicer. Add it to cold pomegranate syrup.
- Put the jam back on high heat and bring it to a boil. As soon as it starts to bubble, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cook for another 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and cool.
- All that remains is to put the jam on the fire one last time and, after boiling, cook for about half an hour until it is cooked.
- Pour the jam hot into prepared small jars. There is no need to worry - when the jam cools it will become thick with a consistency similar to viscous fresh honey.
Recipe Recommendations:
- One half of the lime/lemon zest can be finely grated and added to the jam at the same time as the juice. In this case, the jam will develop an incredibly interesting taste with a slight, subtle bitterness.
With feijoa
Jam prepared according to this recipe should be consumed by people with low blood pressure. Feijoa, like pomegranate, is sold at the same time, so there will be no problems finding fruit.
Ingredients:
- feijoa – ½ kg;
- pomegranate – 2 pcs.;
- sugar – 1 kg;
- water – ½ tbsp.
How to cook:
- Peel the feijoa and grind in a meat grinder.
- Get pomegranate seeds.
- Prepare syrup. To do this, mix water with sugar and dissolve over low heat.
- Pour the feijoa pulp into the syrup and add the grains.
- Cook for 20 minutes. Cool when finished.
- Pack in glass containers.
You can surprise your loved ones with this jam.
Benefits of pomegranate jam
With the beginning of the autumn-winter period comes the time for oranges, tangerines, persimmons and pomegranates. Fruit or berry? What is this fruit? According to botanists, pomegranate is a berry enclosed in a dense shell, which becomes dark red as it ripens.
Pomegranate fruits have unique beneficial properties:
- contribute to the improvement of the cardiovascular system, normalize blood pressure;
- reduce the amount of sugar in the blood;
- increase hemoglobin;
- are effective prevention of atherosclerosis and the formation of malignant tumors;
- restore hormonal balance in the body;
- are a source of vitamins and amino acids important for the body (there are 15 in total).
Pomegranate is recommended to be consumed regularly. Both the juice of this berry and the grains from which housewives make delicious jam are beneficial.