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The most delicious recipe for physalis jam with lemon is easy to prepare, but the result can surprise the most spoiled gourmets. After cooking, an unusual berry resembles gooseberries and figs at the same time. Different varieties have their own flavors, and adding lemon, ginger, mint, various spices to recipes allows you to create a new, unique dessert every time.
How to make physalis jam with lemon
Physalis belongs to the nightshade crops and originates from the American continent. From the point of view of science, it is a berry, but in cooking it is also used as a vegetable. To make physalis jam with the addition of lemon delicious, you need the right preparation:
- Only fully ripened raw materials are suitable for jam. Ripeness is determined by the complete drying of the integumentary box.
- The dry fruit shell is peeled off as soon as possible after harvest, otherwise the berries will be bitter in the dessert.
- Wax coating from the surface is easy to remove by blanching the raw material for 2 minutes in boiling water. This technique additionally softens the dense shell.
- If the jam recipe involves using the whole physalis, the mixture must be infused in syrup between the cooking stages to completely soak the pulp.
- Even small fruits should be pierced at the stem before cooking. Large specimens are pierced through with a toothpick in several places.
Physalis does not have a pronounced aroma and contains few organic acids. Jam from berries and sugar according to the classic recipe may seem cloyingly sweet. Additives are selected according to one’s own taste, but the best combination is the introduction of lemon. Citrus replenishes the necessary acid, balances the taste, serves as a preservative.
Physalis selection rules
When choosing raw materials, it is important to distinguish decorative varieties from food physalis. Strawberry, vegetable and, rarer, pineapple varieties are suitable for jam.
Such physalis contains plant poisons. Edible berries are much larger, their size is comparable to cherry tomatoes, the color is muted.
Strawberry physalis is also called berry. Its yellow fruits are small in size and do not have a waxy coating on the peel and are best suited for jam. The variety is distinguished by a delicate strawberry aroma, which is preserved with proper processing.
The vegetable variety is often referred to as the Mexican tomato. It is much larger, a dry case often cracks on large fruits. Color – green, sometimes with purple-black spots. The presence of lemon in the recipe improves the color of the dessert if the berries are dark-colored.
There is a sticky coating on the surface of vegetable physalis, which should be removed before cooking. The berries retain their integrity when boiled and acquire the consistency of figs.
Pineapple physalis is less common, it is smaller than strawberry, has a creamy rind and is much sweeter. When preparing jam from this variety, the sugar rate is slightly reduced or the lemon bookmark is increased.
Ingredients
Recipes for vegetable physalis jam with lemon suggest the classic ratio of sugar to fruit as 1:1. For 1 kg of prepared berries, at least a kilogram of sugar is added, these proportions allow you to create a basic taste and texture. Adding lemon and changing the amount of water in the recipe regulates the sweetness and fluidity of the finished jam.
Ingredients for the classic jam recipe:
- fruits of vegetable physalis – 1000 g;
- granulated sugar – 1000 g;
- water – 250 g;
- medium lemon (weighing about 100 g).
If you want to get a marmalade consistency, the amount of liquid can be minimized. In this case, fresh raw materials are subjected to long-term settling with sugar (up to 8 hours) to obtain juice. Physalis is reluctant to release moisture; before cooking, it is advisable to add about 50 ml of water to the container.
Additives to physalis lemon jam depend on personal taste. A good combination gives cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, cloves, mint, ginger. You can diversify the recipe by replacing half a lemon with an orange or adding its zest. Ginger is added to jam in grated form, no more than 30 g of root per 1000 g of physalis.
They are introduced in small quantities so as not to drown out the subtle flavor of physalis and lemon. Large fragments of spices (sprigs of mint, clove buds, cinnamon sticks) are removed from the jam before packaging.
Physalis jam recipe with lemon
The traditional recipe involves boiling whole physalis fruits in syrup made with lemon. Fruit preparation is reduced to washing, pricking each berry and blanching. If a lemon is added with zest, then it is first scalded with boiling water and wiped dry.
Jam recipe step by step:
- Lemon, along with the peel, is cut arbitrarily (small slices, pieces, slices). All seeds from citrus are removed.
- Heating the entire amount of water, dissolve the sugar in it and, stirring, achieve the dissolution of the grains. Boil for about 5 minutes.
- Add crushed lemon. Remove the syrup from the heat at the first sign of boiling.
- Prepared physalis is poured into cooking utensils (enamelled or stainless steel basin) and poured with hot syrup along with lemon slices.
- Heat the mixture over low heat until it boils. Stirring constantly, cook for 10 minutes.
- Remove the container from the heat and leave to soak for up to 12 hours.
Further preparation of physalis with lemon consists in repeating the heating and cooling cycles until the desired syrup density and berries are transparent. Depending on the variety and size of the fruit, impregnation occurs in different ways. For ripe specimens of medium size, double boiling is sufficient.
Terms and conditions of storage
After the second 10-minute boiling, Physalis jam is ready for packaging. The hot mass is placed in sterile glass jars and tightly sealed. This method of preparation ensures the safety of the product in a cold place for several months.
Laying a lemon with zest at the last stage of cooking retains flavor, but affects the storage of the workpiece. To increase the shelf life, the jam is heated at least 3 times or pasteurized. Pasteurization of physalis with lemon:
- filled jars are covered loosely with lids and placed in hot water up to their shoulders;
- heated in a water bath for about 15 minutes after boiling water;
- hot blanks are carefully removed and tightly corked.
The method extends the preservation of jam up to 1 year. Pasteurized blanks are left at room temperature without access to light.
Conclusion
The most delicious recipe for physalis jam with lemon has not only culinary value. Its composition will support the body with vitamins, minerals and other valuable substances throughout the winter. Lemon favorably emphasizes, complements the taste and nutritional value of physalis, and aromatic additives invigorate and cheer up.
