Marmalade with Narangi/ Ornamental Oranges

Marmalade! Do you recall where you first heard this term? Well I read this term first in Enid Blyton books when I was a kid. It made me want it so much! With fresh bread! On rolls! With scones!

Jump to Recipe

Well would you like to have a jar of delicious marmalade in your pantry? Just make this recipe and enjoy the sweet, tangy and slightly bitter taste!

It has an ingredient that we do not add to jams… peels! Typically, citrus peels. And the cute little narangi/ ornamental oranges that we admire in so many houses are perfect for this recipe as they do not have a thick skin.

I have been making jams for a long long time now. My mixed fruit, apple and jamun jams are all very popular. Slowly getting round to writing the recipes for each!

However, the opportunity for marmalade came recently. And, I was surprised at how easy it is. And how delicious!

While I was aware of the difference between jams and marmalades, it became clearer when I made it! For those who want to know more about the differences, this article is great!

Well, it all came into being because my husband and I, during one of our cycling trips, admired a tree full of the cute ornamental oranges. When we asked, the lady of the house cheerfully and happily handed over a bag of these little oranges. She called them narangi. And also shared the recipe for it! What a bounty!

Steps to making Marmalade

As I said before, making this marmalade was ridiculously easy. However, I did make it a family affair, and I had 4 willing pairs of hands to help! Now that makes a difference!

Washing the fruit and starting up

We obviously start by cleansing the skin of the fruit thoroughly. There is no need to dry the fruit after that. Just get cutting boards, knives, plastic bowls and a small piece of muslin ready.

Collecting the seeds

Yes, you read that right! We need each seed from the little guys. This is because they are amazing sources of pectin. And pectin is the magic ingredient that will help the marmalade to “set”.

So, cut open each fruit and carefully collect all the seeds. Keep adding the fruit with the skin and the juice into a plastic container. I prefer this as the juices are very acidic and I prefer not letting metals interact with them.

Tying up the seeds

When all the fruit is de-seeded, collect them in the centre of the muslin cloth. Tie it up with a piece of muslin. Keep it ready.

Processing the fruit

If you have a food processor, simply use the mincer blade to blitz the fruit into small bits. Do it in 2-3 lots, depending on the amount of fruit you have. The pulp and skin bits might be a bit uneven. But that is fine.

If you wish, you can patiently extract the juice of the fruit and slice the skin into thin slices. This will give a better looking product.

But the time saver of a food processor is fine for me!

If you wish to add novelty, you can add the skin of a couple of oranges as well. Make sure you remove any white portion and include only the coloured portion of the rind.

Measuring the sugar

Now, typically white sugar is used for the recipe. But I added powdered jaggery along with white sugar. This gave it a rich, dark look. And the added benefit of being organic and healthier.

Choosing spices

You can choose star anise, or as in my case, a clove and some mace for the flavourful notes they add to the marmalade. However, it is not a must.

The dash of butter

I added a dash of butter to the mixture, purely for the fun element and to add the tiny bit of salt to the dish. I think it became yummier, but it is optional!

The Recipe Dos and Don’ts for Marmalade

Choose a steel vessel to do the cooking.

Have a long spoon or ladle ready.

Keep clean, dry glass bottles ready to store the marmalade.

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A funnel will help to pour the cooked marmalade into the bottles, but using as spoon is also fine.

The Marmalade-making Process

Once you blitz the orange in the food processor, measure it roughly before adding it to the steel vessel.

If you are including orange or lemon rind, you can add it to the mixture and grind it too. (Remember to remove the bitter white pith of the rind by scraping it off. This addition is optional, only to increase the bulk of the marmalade.)

Make a litttle pouch for the seeds with a muslin cloth or a clean handkerchief. Add it to the fruit.

Cook the fruit with water first for 10 minutes. Do not skip this step.

Remove the pouch. Cool it.

Add sugar and cook further. Stir occasionally. Let the sugar dissolve. I added a mixture of brown and white sugar. You can choose to use this mixture or pure brown or pure white.

Also, the amount of sugar depends on how sweet/ tangy/bitter you want the marmalade to be. Broadly, I add equal parts of sugar to the volume of the fruit pulp.

Initially at low heat, and once the sugar is dissolved, on high heat.

And when the seed pouch is cool enough to handle, squeeze it over the fruit, directly on the pan, till all the juices come out into the fruit. Discard the seed pouch.

When the marmalade is on high heat, stir it and stay close by.

The setting stage will come quickly once it starts frothing. I added the butter at this stage.

After rapid boiling, the soft stage ( where the marmalade is liquidy and the product is almost translucent) will come in 10 minutes,

The more set, thick stage ( as I prefer it) will come in 15-20 minutes)

Pour into the clean jars when the marmalade is still hot.

Let it cool and close the lids.

Store in the fridge. It will stay fine for 4 -5 months.