Paradise apple preserve | Jannat almasindan murabba

As with most Azerbaijani jams, the paradise apples should be kept intact in the preserving process. Azerbaijani preserves are usually eaten by the spoonful with tea, rather than spread on bread. Oval.Az is grateful to Gullu Cahangir for allowing us to use her paradise apple preserve recipe, taken from her informative website Azerifood.com.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 1 day
Serves: makes 5-6 jars

Ingredients

• 1 kg/2.2 lbs paradise apples
• 1 kg/2.2 lb granulated sugar
• 2 glasses (200 ml/7 fl.oz) water

Preparation

• Wash the apples and trim the stalks, but do not cut them off completely.
• Prick the apples with a fork.
• Dissolve the sugar in 1 glass of water (200 ml/7 fl.oz) to make a syrup and set aside.
• Bring 1 glass of water (200 ml/7 fl.oz) to the boil in a large pan and add the paradise apples. Simmer for 5 minutes. Do not cook the apples for too long or their peel will burst and they will lose their shape.
• Drain the apples in a colander. Put them in a large pan and add the syrup.
• Set aside for 8 hours or overnight.
• Place the pan on a medium flame, bring to the boil and simmer for 7 minutes, stirring gently from time to time.
• Remove from the heat and set aside for 6 to 7 hours.
• Put the pan on a low flame and slowly bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. The preserves are ready when the fruit turns an amber colour and the syrup a clear pink.
• Leave the preserves overnight to cool.
• Place the preserves into sterilized jars and seal.