Hapus Muramba/ Aphonso jam /Mango jam /Mango murabba
Hapus!
If you don’t know what it is, ask a Mumbai or Maharashtrian person. As much as we love our Ganpati Bappa, our Mumbai and our own Vada pav, we adore and wait for the first Hapus each and every season.
Hapus is Alphonso variety of Indian mangoes. Grown only in coastal regions of Maharashtra and Goa. It has names with the regions its best grown in..’Ratnagiri’ and Devgad’.
Can’t stop talking about the hapus, one has to experience to believe.
We get them abundantly in March and April. But then they keep us on waiting for next year. But our elderly were definitely being clever curating and passing on this recipe to preserve the flavours so one can enjoy its at least sparsely throughout the year.
What is murabba/ muramba?
‘Murane’ is a Marathi verb which means to preserve. and ‘Amba’ is mango. By this we can say muraba or muramba is a preserve of mango, with the mango pieces embedded in thick sugar syrup.
Typically murabba is made with seasonal fruits like aamla — Indian gooseberries and raw mangoes. But if you try this ripe mango muraba, you will forget all jams , preserves and marmalade in the world. The aroma, the flavour and the taste is just unbeatable in my opinion.
What do we need?
We need fresh , firm ripe and ready Alphonso mangoes. Little sugar and few cardamom pods, we are good to go. I even add few cloves as I like the flavour once it goes in sugar syrup but it optional.
The part of world we currently live is quite away from India so we hardly get alphonso and if at all we find them in Asian store, they are quite expensive. So whenever we find them we relish them fresh and hardly do any sort of ‘ cooking’ with them. But this year I spared two mangoes to make this muramba so I can show the taste to my girlies as one can’t find this preserve in shops.
Consistency:
Usually any murabba has thicker sugar syrup flavoured with pieces of fruits. But one can make consistency they would like to. I find thicker the muramba, better chances of staying fresh for long. So I make it thicker yet spreadable consistency.
The thoughts of muramba also make me drool! As a child this used to be our treat..a hapus muramba spread chapatis rolled and tucked in Saturday tiffin..the only day we were allowed to carry not so healthy/sweet food to school.
Click here to see the video!!
- First wash and peel mango skin. Chop pulp in 1 cm cubes.
Steps to make:
2.Later make sugar syrup and flavour lightly with cardamom and cloves.
3. Stages of mango pulp getting thicker along with sugar syrup. Cook on low flame at all the time to avoid sticking and burning at bottom of pan.
4. When cools off , store in air tight container.
: Recipe Card :
| Prep Time | 5 minutes |
| Cook Time | 40 minutes |
| Servings |
gm
|
- 2 Alphonso mangoes (yields 1 1/2 cup mango pulp)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 3 green cardamom pods
- 2 cloves optional
Ingredients
|
|
- Choose ready to eat but firm Alphonso mangoes. Wash and peel the skin. Discard the seed and chop the pulp in 1 cm cubes.
- Heat a saucepan and add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water. Stir slowly taking care the sugar doesn't stick or burn on sides of pan.
- Once sugar dissolves and syrup starts boiling ,add in cardamom, cloves and chopped mango pulp.
- Let it simmer on slow flame .Take care it doesn't stick to bottom of pan. Stir occasionally. initially the pulp will ooze water and syrup will become watery. The aroma starts wafting in the kitchen.
- It should take around 20 minutes on very low flame when the pulp along with syrup thickens and shows sticky one string consistency when stretched between two fingers.
- Turn the heat off. When cools off, Store the prepared preserve / muraba in airtight container. Serve with roll of chapati or warm toast.
- Stays well in refrigerator for upto 6 months if its thickened well.
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