Fig Jam

My daughter has a small home garden that they tend with lot of care. They grow, in a small space, many rose plants, few vegetables according to the season and berries in their garden. The kitchen herbs are in small pots. They have cherries and figs all growing in small trees that may someday be really big and bear lot of fruits. She just sent me a picture of the lavender that she removed from the garden.

The fig tree is small yet there were many tiny figs that would be fruit by season. They were still raw when we left for home and have ripened recently.
She and her husband have been having smoothies and milk shakes with the fruits. She said she had just finished her lot of the strawberry jam and was looking to make some with the fresh figs. She sent me pictures and the recipe she followed and this post is about the jam she made with her homegrown figs.

I shall be excused for filling the post with more pictures than the recipe for I like the pictures she sent and do not know which of those to discard.

Fig Jam

(Recipe  and pictures from Niki, my daughter, given as received in my mail)

Ingredients:

20 medium sized figs

3/4 cup powdered jaggery

couple of pinches cinnamon

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp butter

Method:

- Prepare a 1 pint jar for canning. Put it in hot water and keep warm.

- Put a ceramic plate in the freezer so that you might try the plate test when the jam is ready.

- Rinse and dry the figs.

- Slice the tops off and remove the peels. The peels give away a bitter taste unlike real ripe fruits we get in the market. If you may, go ahead and use the peel too.

- Pulp the figs (I just did this by mushing them with my hands) to a mush.

- Put them in a heavy bottom pan or a dutch oven and cook them on a medium flame for about 5 to 6 minutes with the lemon juice. 

- Add the jaggery all in one go, and the cinnamon and stir it in.

- Once the jaggery has dissolved, keep cooking till the jam comes together and plates well (about 40 minutes).

- Put the butter in and give it a quick stir.

- Pour the jam into already prepared/sterilized jar and let cool.

Yields 1 pint

She said that the jam had more sweetness and the hint of cinnamon was remarkably good. She felt that she did not taste the fig so much as she would like. Still, she said, the jam tasted good and was of nice spreadable consistency.