Although mangos aren’t in season in the winter, you can get them incredibly cheap on the markets these days. We got 18 for 2 £ and a friend of mine got 8 for 1 € in Brussels. I guess the dealers have to get rid of their stock before they go bad completely or something like that. They are not really that good while raw, but they make great jams and chutneys. I know, because I made both- what else was I to do with that ridiculous amount? I haven’t really tasted the chutney yet (you know, it has to mature or something for 8 weeks), but I have eaten quite a lot of the jam. Mainly because we ran out of jars, so about a ton had to be eaten fast:). But that wasn’t hard, the jam tastes amazing! So if you come across really cheap mangos that you just have to buy, but don’t really know what to make out of them, here’s my recipe. You should really give it a try.
You’ll need:
- 10 mangos (around 2.5 kg when peeled and destoned)
- 1 kg of sugar for making jams in 2:1 ratio (alternatively, buy enough pektin for 2 kg of fruit)
- 1 kg of brown sugar
- 1 dcl of spiced white rum (like Captain Morgan) – don’t worry, the alcohol evaporates completely
- 4 limes
1. Peel the mangos and cut them in small even cubes. The pieces should be around half a cm wide and pretty much the same size. It took me 3 hours to do that, so I recommend you do it while watching a film or two (it might have taken me only 2 if I didn’t watch the films, but at least I was entertained).
cutting
2. Transfer to a very large pot, add the zest of 2 limes, the juice of all four, the rum and both sugars. If you’re using pektin, read the instruction on when to add it to the jam, it’s usually meant to be added at the end (I think.)
3. Cook on low heat for around an hour or until it reduces by around a quarter. Then turn the heat up, so it boils and it starts to gel. When weired little foam appears on top, it usaly means it’s ready. The best way to test if a jam or jelly will solidify when cold is to do the plate test. Take a small ceramic plate and put half of a teaspoon of the jam on it. The cold plate will cool it immediately and if the jam hardness it’s time to jar it. (Use clean, disinfected jars for that). Let cool over night, store in a cool place.
jaring
Ari is helping
This jam taste pretty great, it has quite an exotic touch (for me, I’m used to all kinds of berry jams) and goes perfect with a wide variety of things. Like cake.
Or wholegrain crepes.
Or in some oatmeal in the morning.
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