Washington Apple Jam

A couple of days ago a friend sent me a hamper of Washington Apples and I fascinated to see the multi-coloured, firm apples, beautifully packaged with an interesting note explaining the major varieties of Washington Apples. The broad categories cover red delicious, which is the most widely grown apple in the world. It's heart-shaped bright red in colour and sometimes striped. Its crunchy and has a mildly sweet flavour, great for eating or in salads. Golden delicious, mellow and sweet, the flesh stays white longer than other apples. Granny Smith, green, extremely tart, juicy, excellent for snacking. Gala, pinkish-organge stripes over a yellow background, again great for snacking and salads. Fuji, holds its texture when baked and is known for its syrupy sweetness.

While I cut up the Fuji and Red Delicious apple, the day I got the hamper, I decided to use the Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Gala to make apple Jam and here's what I did....

Ingredients

Three Apples peeled and grated
1 1/2 cups sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp of cinnammon powder
1 drop / pinch of cooking colour (red)(optional)

Procedure
Mix sugar and grated apples in a thick-bottomed pan and place on flame. Cook over low flame, stirring occasionally till the mixture is well-cooked and homogenious and has jam-like consistancy. Will take about 15-20 minutes. Add cinnammon powder and lemon juice, cooking colour and stir for a minute or two. Remove from flame, cool and store in glass jar. Since no preseervatives are added, keep refigerated.

Apple Jam tastes great on hot buttered toast, spread and rolled on hot buttered chappatti, with hot puri. Can also make an interesting snack / desert by putting on Britannia GoodDay cookies and topping it with a little fresh cream and nuts.