POACHED PEAR/ CANDIED PEAR

POACHED PEAR/ CANDIED PEAR

NASHPATI KA MURRABA

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and blessed New year 2016.

These days life is very easy compared to the olden days, all varieties of goods are available in all parts of the world, it doesn’t matter where they are produced or manufactured, they are available at the local grocery store down your street, right?

If we take the example of fresh produce like fruits and vegetables, they are grown on a large scale and exported to other countries. This is the reason all the fruits and vegetables are available in all parts of the world. When I go grocery shopping here in Calgary, I see fruits which were grown in South Africa, U.S.A., Mexico, and even China. We, customers, get the benefit of using these items when they are not in season locally because in other parts of the world they have different seasons and they are grown there.

These days, when commercial farmers are producing on such a large scale they are not only exporting to different countries of the world but use them in many other ways. Commercial farmers sell their surplus to secondary industries where they are again converted/manufactured to bi-products like jams, jellies, fruit candies, tinned fruits, dried fruits etc. The only problem is that they might use/contain many artificial and synthetic preservatives.

In olden days scenario, let’s say even 50 years ago, it was very different, fruits and vegetables were locally grown in an area and only available in that area in their seasons. In those days, in some seasons farmers got bumper harvests, which were sold at low prices in the market. The reason behind it was that farmers wanted to get rid of that extra produce before it could get rotten.

So people, after consuming what they could, were preserving the little extra left with them, in such a manner that it can last longer. ‘Murraba’ is one of the traditional methods of India, where fruits were preserved this way to be used for a longer period of time. At that time there were no preservatives used in these types of murraba, sugar in itself was the best preservative.

The other reason for making these murrabas was that they were considered good for health. These murrabas have a special place in Ayurveda, the ancient art of healing.

According to Ayur times (https://www.ayurtimes.com/murabba/) murraba is an Ayurvedic and Unani medicinal preparation which has many health benefits including being an immune booster. Murrabas are made with many fruits and they all have different health benefits depending on the fruit we are using in that particular murraba.

In Indian cuisine, murrabas are made differently compared to the other cuisines where it is called candies or poached fruits. The recipe I used here is a traditional Indian one, which I learned from some elderly ladies in my family the long time ago. I tried this recipe many times and made many types of murrabas with apples, pears and carrots etc.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 kg organic pear
• ½ kg sugar for syrup
• 250 lit. water
• 1 small beetroot (100 grams)
• 4-5 green cardamom
• 1 big stick of cinnamon

METHOD

• Boil beetroot and make puree in a food processor
• Mix sugar and water and put it on the stove to make sugar syrup, when syrup is ready add beetroot puree, cardamom, and cinnamon and boil again.
• Wash thoroughly, peel and cut pears into two or four pieces. I didn't peel the pears in this murraba.
• Add pears to this sugar syrup, cover the lid and boil for 20 minutes on low flame.
• When cold fill in a clean glass jar and keep it in the fridge.

It can last in the fridge for one month. This can be enjoyed as it is or without sugar syrup with cereals, yoghurts and ice creams.

I am sending this recipe as my blog post entry with Hearth and soul blog hop, and with What'd you do this weekend, and with Cook blog share, and with Tasty Tuesday C Kids, and with Friday free for all, and with Tuesday tutorials, and with Way wow party, and with Full plate Thursday, and with My two fav things on Thursday, and With lets get real party, and with Real Food Friday, and with Food and Fitness Friday, and with Funtastic Friday, and with Fiesta Friday with co-host Jhuls and Mr Fitz,, and with Food year linkup for Jan, and with Meat less Monday with Deborah and Sarah,, and with Sunday Food and Fitness party,

 .