Homemade Orange Marmalade – Are you an orange person?

What kind of a fruit person are you? Which fruits literally call out to you or are you one of those fruit haters, like the rest of my family? I am huge on fruits, especially seasonal ones. Goes without saying, mangoes are my first love but oranges come a close second, especially in winter. Nowadays, you get oranges round the year but sadly not worth having. So, a visit to t fruit market tempted me to buy beautiful fresh oranges. I was told they were the sweetest of the season. I bagged a kilo of oranges with excitement to spend the next few afternoons eating nature’s own finger food. Alas! they turned out to be quite sour. I didn’t have much choice but to turn them into orange marmalade. The bonus is, it’s always a hit with the non-fruit eating family. 

 

Which oranges make for the best orange marmalade?

Honestly, you can use any orange to make marmalade. I used a mix of regular Nagpur oranges and a few ‘Kinnow’ to make this particular marmalade. I did, however, get a far better result with “Malta’ oranges last year. They are a bit more expensive and I am told that they are imported as well. They were completely out of the market for the last couple of months. And believe me, I searched for them everywhere, although not for making orange marmalade but for food photography. Having said that, use any orange with flavour and a little thick skin to make perfect orange marmalade. The lesser the seeds or pith, the easier it is to make. 

The prepping for the marmalade

Giving out the exact measurement for this marmalade recipe would be foolish. Every orange comes in different sizes and the amount of juice and pulp that you squeeze out is different as well. The easiest way to manage this recipe is with a simple ratio method, which I will explain. The first step is cleaning the oranges really well under running water. Then take half of the oranges and cut them into halves. Squeeze out all the juice along with the pulp into a strainer. Make sure you squeeze out every bit of juice from those oranges. Don’t discard the orange peel. Peel off the skin from the rest of the oranges. If you can segment them, it becomes easier. 

Cut out small chunks of the oranges, discard any seeds or pith and add to the juice. There should not be any white fibre in the juice. Now, you can take a spoon with sharp edges or a knife and scrape out the white part of the orange peels. From the first batch of orange, scrape out the leftover pulp and squeeze it through a strainer. And scrape away all the white part from the peel here as well. It should just be the orange part. Then with a sharp knife, make fine julienne from half the peels which should be ideally 1.5 inches long for best results. 

How to Make Orange Marmalade?

Take all the peel and add them to the juice and pulp. You will need a weighing scale for this to get the desired result. Weigh out the exact amount of orange juice and peel that you have. Whatever the quantity, add exactly the same amount of sugar to this. If you do not have a weighing scale, do a cup measure for both the ingredients. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, take everything together and also squeeze in the juice of one lemon. Put the saucepan on a boil. Stir it every now and then till the sugar dissolves. Then let it continue boiling for about fifteen to twenty minutes. Make sure that your saucepan has higher sides since the sugar tends to bubble up high.

After twenty minutes, check the consistency and whether the peel has become soft or not. There should be some amount of bite in the peel. Take a spoon full of the liquid (it still looks runny) and pour on any ceramic plate. Put that plate in the refrigerator for 5 to 6 minutes and don’t forget to turn off the gas while you are testing out the consistency. After the desired time has passed, take the plate out and swirl to see if the marmalade is drizzling or not. Slide your finger in the centre to see if a clean line is made. If not, then put the marmalade back on the boil for another ten minutes and repeat the process. Once you have achieved the desired consistency, turn off the heat. Transfer the orange marmalade into jars once it has cooled down for 10 minutes. 

How to Store Marmalade?

Just like any jam in our country, store orange marmalade in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It stays well for more than a month. I haven’t checked for more than a month since we finish it off by then.

Flavour Suggestions

There are two sure-shot flavours that do magic to orange marmalade. One is adding ginger julienne or grated ginger while boiling. The second flavour that works wonderfully but for adults only is to add whiskey or bourbon. Only, you have to add the alcohol after you have cooked the marmalade and give it a stir.

You can serve soru chakli with Nepali alu ko achar as well. It is a brilliant combination. 

Do try this recipe and share your feedback. You can reach out to us at our social media handles Instagram, Facebook or any of our personal Facebook (Madhushree and Anindya) and Twitter profiles. Post a picture and tag us.

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