مربى اليقطين
Traditional Syrian pumpkin jam made with crunchy chunks of pumpkin simmered in a sweet syrup.
I’m obsessed with fall.
I love everything about it: the smell of crackling firewood; the warm, comforting foods; the oversized sweaters; the sound of fallen leaves crunching beneath my feet; and the cozy afternoons cuddling with loved ones on the couch beneath a blanket in the dying light of a late autumn afternoon.
Oh, to live in an eternal autumn.
Cooking with pumpkin
To me, nothing tastes like fall more than pumpkin. You’ve probably noticed the plethora of pumpkin recipes on my blog, and its for good reason. Pumpkins add a delicate sweetness and a unique texture to many foods.
Syrian Pumpkin Jam
This pumpkin jam recipe comes straight from Syria, where people make enough pumpkin jam in the fall to last all year.
The Key Ingredient
They key ingredient in this jam is the pickling lime; it ensures the pumpkin (or your fruit of choice) remains solid while it is being cooked in the syrup. The lime is only used in the preparation stage; we do not cook it into the jam. You can find pickling lime in the canning section of large grocery stores.
Pumpkin Jam
Ingredients
- 400 g pickling lime or limestone or slaked lime
- 2 pumpkin Peeled. A medium-sized 3kg pumpkin will reduce to 2kg once peeled.
- 2 kg sugar
- 2 L water
- Juice of one lemon
Instructions
- Cut pumpkin into wedges. Peel each wedge using a vegetable peeler. Then cut pumpkin into 1-2” cubes.
- In a large bowl, mix the pickling lime with water until it dissolves. Place pumpkin cubes in the bowl and allow to soak for two hours.
- Drain water from pumpkin. Rinse pumpkin chunks in several changes of water to remove all the lime.
- In a large pot, add sugar and water and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Gently add pumpkin chunks to the pot. Bring to a boil again and then lower the heat to low. Stir gently using a wooden spoon. Simmer for 1 hour and 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the syrup reduces too much, add ½ cup water.
- Add lemon and simmer for 15 minutes. The jam is done when the pumpkin chunks become semi-transparent. The liquid should turn into a honey-coloured syrup.
- Transfer the jam to jars and allow to cool to room temperature before sealing the jar.
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