
Chiku/ Sapodilla is definitely a delicious fruit but is not high on many fruits lovers list. During my growing up days I never liked Chiku, Infact eating chiku was mandatory on a day after Diwali as it used to be one of the fruits in Pooja ki Thaali. My grandmother loved eating chiku but had to leave when her Diabetes got a bit out of hand. So chiku stopped making appearances at home expect Diwali and I used to be happy skipping chiku counter at fruit market.
Left the comfort of home for hostel and sudden awakening for all that taste of home I started feasting on them during all my Monday fasting, don’t like the mess food fasting and I’m missing home moods.
Till I met my life saver friend, Chiku was just a fruit eaten with spoon for me. She had a way with food, she simply knew the way around taste with minimal ingredients, there I saw her whizzing this Chiku shake, trust me by that time I was total oblivious of anything apart from mango, banana and almond being added to milk in name of shake. She poured in our usual glasses with a generous help of Glucon-C, I kept staring at her with utter disbelief that how am I supposed to drink this sugar load, but Zing, it not only tasted amazing but with that added power we could manage a good practice run for Half Marathon.
By now that I’ve experimented with few combinations, I wanted to make a move away from too sweet chiku jam. So tried adding punch with Ginger and twist with pepper. Twinkle toes as suspected wouldn’t show any interest, but you see, the color is a huge relief for me (I can easily hide it under Nutella and she wouldn’t know). Oh yeah forgot to mention the flower hat and those Disney sunglasses, Twinkle toes is turning out to be a Diva already. Picks up her styles and simply wouldn’t step out till she’s admired herself in the mirror, even if its her gear before she steps out in sun. So I thought let her favorite things rest near the jam, as she was quietly doing her homework in the background,sigh,kids grow up so fast



Preparation time- 10 minutes
Cooking time – 10 minutes
Ingredients
Chiku/ Sapodilla – 1 kg
Sugar – ½ cup
Ginger grated – 2 tbsp
Peppercorns – 15
Lemon juice- 2 tsp
2 sterilized jam jars
Method – Peel chiku, cut and remove the white pith and the seeds. In a heavy bottom pan add chiku, sugar and ginger. Cover and let it sit in a cold room overnight or at least 24 hours. As its really hot here, so made the pan sit in a water bath to keep the temperature in control. Put the pan on low flame, add lemon juice and crushed peppercorns, stir slowly. Meanwhile put a plate in the freezer for the jam consistency test. Let it simmer for 5 minutes, remove from flame, blend, back on simmer for 5-7 minutes. Take out the plate from freezer, add a spoonful of jam on plate, if it sets and is not runny Jam is done. Pour in sterilized jars, close the lid, turn them upside down. As I do not add extra preservatives, In the weather conditions as here, the shelf life is 15 days , once opened please refrigerate and consume within 10 days.
