Saturday 3 October 2009

Mango & Lime Jam

It's always nice when friends show both imagination and an understanding of what you're about when choosing gifts for you, so I was touched by the gift of a box of 6 fat red-green mangoes as part of an anniversary present last weekend. (Don't worry, these friends know us both well, the present included a bottle of Port for Pete!)



The variety of mangoes seemed best suited to preserving but, having made a green tomato and raisin chutney only last week, I decided to go for the sweeter option of jam. Lime has a wonderful affinity with mango, I find. So mango and lime jam it was!

Mango & Lime Jam
Ingredients
1.5 kilos of mango flesh
1.5 kilos of sugar
Juice of 6 limes
Zest of 6 limes
1 packet pectin powder

Ingredients Notes
Even with the lime juice, the jam is very sweet. You may want to reduce the sugar by up to a third.
I use a small sharp knife, not a zester, to peel the zest from citrus, so I get virtually all of the zest off each lime. If you're using one of a zester or grater, which leaves a lot of green behind, you may want to use the zest from more limes.

Method
  • Peel the mangoes and remove as much of the flesh as possible. Roughly dice and weigh. (Adjust the amounts of the other ingredients to match the weight of mango flesh).
  • Mix the mango and sugar in a bowl and leave in the fridge for about an hour (or longer).
    This helps draw some of the juices out of the mango flesh.
  • Zest and juice the limes.
  • Chop the zest into small pieces.
  • Place all the ingredients into a large pan and bring to the boil.
  • Continue boiling until you achieve a set.
    (Either use a jam thermometer or the cold plate wrinkle test to check for a set).
  • Bottle into hot sterilised jam jars and sterilised lids.


Note: a few months after I made this jam, we cracked open a jar (in March) and found that the lime has given the jam a really savoury flavour! It works well as a sweet-savoury condiment with cheese and I reckon it'd be nice with popadoms too!

4 comments:

Debs @ DKC said...

Oh yum, could just eat some on toast now.

Alex English said...

Sounds delicious! And what nice friends you have...

Anonymous said...

Hi, I live on a mango farm and was given a bag of limes so i googled mango and lime jam and found this recipe. I made the mistake of putting the whole limes in the food prosessor to save time but it made the jam very tangy. I just added more sugar and it taste beautiful. Has a nice sweet and tangy taste to it.

Kavey said...

Hi Anon
Living on a mango farm sounds like a dream to me!
I have found that, over time, as the jam has matured, the lime flavour has come through more strongly and given the jam a lovely savoury aspect, though still sweet, of course.
I think it could work as sweet condiment to savoury food, as well as just a jam.