Tandoori Tomato Jam
Growing up in rural Saskatchewan in the 70s, North American cuisine meant meat, potatoes, gravy and vegetables. I had never experienced the cuisine of other cultures until after I left home and moved to an urban centre. Now, I relish the tastes of Mexican, Thai, Chinese and East Indian food that one can purchase almost anywhere in the city. I have made it a goal to prepare a number of these different dishes at home, so it only seemed logical to incorporate a variety of different flavour profiles into my canning regime. When I came across this Tandoori Tomato Jam in a Canning Magazine published by Better Homes and Gardens (Summer 2015), I didn’t hesitate to try it. This jam can be used as a dipping sauce for chicken skewers, as a rub for roast chicken or meat, spoon it on top of fried eggs or try adding it to curry dishes. It’s also a great jam to add to a charcuterie tray. I like to use roma tomatoes for this recipe because they are less juicy than a beef steak or field tomato.
Tandoori Tomato Jam
Yield 5 250mL jars
Ingredients
25 – 30 (5 pounds) roma tomatoes
3 cups granulated sugar
½ cup bottled lime juice
2 tsp salt
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp garam masala
Directions
Using food processor with a bowl attachment and multi-purpose blade, add washed, chopped tomatoes, peels and seeds included. Process in batches of 5 tomatoes at a time. Pulse until the tomatoes are minced.
Transfer tomatoes to a large, thick bottomed saucepan. Add sugar, lime juice, salt, ginger and crushed red peppers. Bring to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for at least 90 minutes or until reduced to a jam like consistency. Stir in garam masala.
Once jam has cooked for about 60 minutes, start preparing the jars and the canner. Place water in boiling water canner. Heat to a simmer. Place 5 clean, warm 250 ml mason jars on a rack in canner. Cover with simmering water. Place SNAP LIDS® in a bowl full of warm water. Keep both jars and lids warm until ready to use.
Ladle into jars, filling jars one at a time, leaving ¼ inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim. Place SNAP LID® and screw band on jar. Tighten until fingertip tight. Place in canner on rack. Repeat until all jars are full.
Add enough hot water to the canner to ensure jars are covered by 1 inch of water. Place lid on canner. Bring to a full rolling boil. Boil 10 minutes (adjusting for altitude). Turn off heat. Remove lid and wait 5 minutes. Remove jars with a jar lifter, without tilting, to a protected countertop.
Cool upright 24 hours. After cool, check that the jars are sealed. Sealed jar lids curve downward. Remove screw bands and store separately. Clean, dry and label with contents and date.
TIP: Do not re-tighten screw bands on the jars once the jars are removed from the boiling water canner. It could cause the seal to break.
*Altitude adjustment for boiling water method
Altitude in feet Increase processing time by
1001 to 3000 5 minutes
3001 to 6000 10 minutes
6001 to 8000 15 minutes
8001 to 10000 20 minutes
