Sunday 3 January 2016

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.

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71 comments:

  1. WOW! Looks so beautiful and delicious!

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  2. Looks too good and happy new year to you too...

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  3. very nice post and learned the method...visit my page too

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  4. Delicious and just awesome...Lovely step by step pictures...

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  5. I love all the history you put into your posts. It looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing so much of your knowledge!

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    1. You are welcome Kathryn, and thanks for reading the post and for your comment.

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  6. Looks so delicious....beautiful share !!

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  7. Ooh, this sounds so delicious and what a great way to use up some pears if you manage to get hold of a large haul of them. #CookBlogShare
    Angela x

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  8. I love the fact that the syrup has beetroot puree in to give it that gorgeous pink colour!

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  9. Just bought some pears and cooked beetroot!
    I love that combo- it screams health :)
    Thanks for sharing.
    Mila

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    1. Really, wow, I am very sure, you will enjoy it. Thanks very much for your visit and comment.

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  10. This looks so good ♥

    summerdaisy.net

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  11. In Chinese medicine, we used poached pear for cough which is very effective! Your pears look awesome! Thank you for sharing it with us! #pintorials

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    1. wow, that is good, even me i have mentioned in my post that even in Ayurveda, it is used as medicine.
      Thanks for your comment Eileen.

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  12. Too delicious. Can imagine the taste of pear in sugar syrup, yummy

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  13. Hi Sadhna,
    Times sure have changed haven they? These pears sounds so tasty. When I was a child we used to make pickled pears and we loved them. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays. Pinned & tweeted!

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    1. Wow, that is nice, thanks very much for your lovely comment.

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  14. Happy New Year! These poached pears are so pretty and sound delicious! Thanks for sharing at What'd You Do This Weekend?!

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  15. This is such a delicious variation of poached pears. The cardamom and beetroot are new to me, but what a great idea. Thanks for sharing.

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  16. Very well written dear....

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  17. Great variation of poached pear dear. Love it. Great post. :)

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  18. These look so beautiful and they sound delicious, too! Thank you for sharing at this week's FF101. I hope you have a lovely week ahead. :)

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  19. I just pinned your delicious recipe and can't wait to make it! Thank you so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday and have a great day!
    Come Back Soon,
    Miz Helen

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    1. Awww, so nice of you, Thanks for your comment and for pinning.

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  20. yumm this looks super delicious....lovng the firt two clicks. Great idea to add beetroot to syrup.

    http://www.mumbaitomelbourne.com/food-and-health-blog-posts/matki-chi-usal-moth-beans-usal

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    1. Hi Sharvari, thanks very much, normally people use wine so i wanted to give that red colour .

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  21. I like fruits in any form! The murabba looks delicious ! Happy New Year!

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    1. Thanks for your comment dear, Happy new year to you too.

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  22. Happy new year to you too. Wow these pears look so pretty and so tasty! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x

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  23. I love learning about traditional recipes, Sadhna! Your Poached Pears look wonderful, so delicious! It's lovely they are so healthy too. Thank you so much for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Hop.

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    1. Hi April, your comments are always encouraging and nice, thanks for your visit and comment.

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  24. Wow how pretty those are! I don't think I've ever seen anything like them. Thanks for linking up with us today for Meatless Monday

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  25. Sadhna, I love pears, and these look so good. I love when I can have a sweet treat and it's good for me too! I also love when we can learn from our children, it is an amazing feeling, isn't it? Although I'd like them little still, I love watching them become!!!

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    1. Thanks Nikki for your comment, I know they are sweet but they are healthy too. Yes your feeling is right about the children.

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  26. Interesting! Love poached pears and I never thought to add beets to them when poaching but they look beautiful! I will have to try them I bet these would be delicious on top of a bowl of porridge/oatmeal. I just have to decide weather to make a chai oatmeal or a vanilla bean one. Happy Meatless Monday and thank you for linking up with us!

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    1. Wow, such a nice comment dear. I am very sure you will love it. Thanks for your visit and the comment. Nice to meet you.

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  27. These pears are just gorgeous and sound delicious!

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  28. These have such a beautiful colour to them, they look wonderful - pinning and will try next time I have pears to pickle x

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  29. This reminds me of my Mom! She used to poach pears all the time! Yum! Thanks for sharing on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday! Pinned!

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  30. Delicious!! THanks for sharing at Funtastic Friday!

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  31. These look absolutely Fabulous! I love pears, so I am looking forward to giving this recipe a try & pinned it. Thank you so much for joining the Sunday Fitness & Food Link-up. Have a Great Week!! :-)

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    1. Thanks very much Amgela for your lovely comment and for your visit.

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  32. This is such a beautiful dessert Sadhna. I have never seen it before, but it looks super delicious and I would love to give it a try. Pinning! Have a Wonderful Weekend!

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  33. It's so sad that we as human beings are becoming, and often celebrating, a throw away culture. Some of my fondest memories growing up is eating homemade canned fruit, and the tinned versions never come close to that taste. It's almost like the sunshine that the fruits grew in are missing. Does that sound weird? Thank YOU Sadhna for sharing recipes like this. I'm pinning so I never forget what real tastes like.

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    1. You are right Michelle, things are really changing in this modern world including food and its preparations.Traditional way of life was really good. Thanks for your comment and for pinning.

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