This month as we honor our Featured Grantee, Asia Initiatives, and their work in India, I’m taking a little walk down memory lane to my childhood summers in India.

Our kitchen was the heart of our home and in between making well-balanced yet delicious breakfasts, lunches, high tea and dinners, my mom somehow found the time to use the season’s fruit and vegetables to make jams, fruit concentrates and pickles. Some of these creations were more creative than others but what they all had in common was that they were full of flavor, fresh and tasty. The pineapple preserve, for instance, wasn’t a home run in terms of texture when spread on toast but it was still incredible in a turnover.

It’s been a while, and then some, since I have made preserves or jams. But this week as my daughter and I spent some time snuggled up watching “With love, Meghan,” I felt like revisiting some old jam/fruit preserves recipes from my mother’s kitchen. Plans to test a savory Indian dinner recipe for this month’s Proven Platter were impulsively scrapped and I made this Ginger and Green Chili Tomato Jam instead. Using just a handful of ingredients, it comes together easily over the stovetop. It’s a perfect summer condiment and its flavor profile is unmistakably Indian. It’s sweet, tangy, gingery and has that hint of heat from the green chilies. I love it slathered on top of mascarpone or cream cheese on a warm toasted slice of sourdough. It is equally perfect as a generous dollop on a bowl of plain (or vanilla) yogurt or on vanilla ice cream. I’ve had it as the spread in a ham and brie sandwich. I’m sure you can think of many ways in which you can use this as well. Eating spoonfuls straight from the jar counts.

Ginger and Green Chili Tomato Jam
Makes 1 jar of jam

Ingredients:
400g (about 2 cups) fresh ripe tomatoes
130g (about ½ cup) granulated sugar
20g (about a thumb-sized amount) fresh ginger root, finely diced
4g green chilies (or to taste), finely chopped
60ml (about ¼ cup) rice vinegar
Generous pinch of salt

Equipment:
Stewpan (non-reactive)
Blender
Jar (sterilized)

Method:
Quarter the tomatoes and add them to the hot stewpan. Stir as the tomatoes cook down. Add the sugar and continue to stir until it melts into the stewed tomatoes. Mix in the ginger and chilies. Add the rice vinegar and a generous pinch of salt.

Transfer the contents of the stewpan to the blender and blend until it is smooth. Return the pan to the stove at medium heat. Add the blended mix back to the stewpan and continue to stir until it thickens and reaches the consistency of jam.

Refrigerate and enjoy!

Recipe and photo credit: Vinola V. Munyon