How to make delicious soft and chewy sugar-soaked candied tamarind for a weekend snack

How to Make Candied Calabash

• 1

  Prepare Calabash

  Add 3 tablespoons of salt to 1 large bowl of water. Use a knife to cut the calabash vertically, making about 4 – 5 cuts, each cut deep enough to reach the seed, then place it in the salted water to soak for 5 – 10 minutes.

  After soaking the calabash, proceed to pound it. Place the calabash on a cutting board and use a pestle or another cutting board to gently press down until the calabash flattens slightly.

  Rinse the flattened calabash with plenty of water.

  Tips to Prevent Calabash from Being Sour and Astringent

  • To remove the sour and astringent taste of calabash, we need to pound and rinse it several times before crushing and mixing with spices.
  • When rinsing, you should taste to see if the sourness and astringency are just right; if so, stop, as different types of calabash will have varying levels of sourness and astringency.
  • Depending on your preference, you can keep the level of sourness of the calabash; if it loses all sourness, it will not taste good anymore.

  

  

  

  
• 2

  Boil the green mango

  Place a pot on the stove, add the prepared green mango to the pot along with water until the water completely covers the mango. Turn on medium heat and boil the mango for about 10 minutes from when the water starts to boil.

  Remember to stir the pot so that the mango cooks evenly. When you see the flesh of the mango bursting at the cuts, it’s done; turn off the heat and transfer the mango to a basket to drain.

  Tip:

  • The secret to ensuring that the mango doesn’t shrivel and maintains a glossy look, with tender and delicious flesh, is to boil it before coating it with sugar.
  • Additionally, boiling the mango before coating with sugar helps prevent the flesh from sticking to the seed, making it very tasty and fluffy.

  

  

  
• 3

  Marinate the mango with sugar

  Add 300g of granulated sugar to the bowl of boiled mango, and toss it to ensure the sugar evenly coats the mango.

  Let it sit for about 30 minutes for the sugar to dissolve and soak into the mango.

  

  
• 4

  Caramelizing Sugar

  After the sour plum has been soaked to absorb the sugar, place the pan on the stove, turn on medium heat, and add all the marinated sour plums.

  Stir the sour plums in the pan until the syrup is fully absorbed (about 10 – 15 minutes), then turn off the heat.

  

  
• 5

  Final Product

  The sour plum jam after completion has an extremely attractive color, with a shiny layer of sugar coating on the outside, and when tasted, it has a perfectly balanced sweet and sour flavor.

  The caramelized sour plums made with this recipe will not shrink, and the flesh will not stick to the sour plum seeds, making it well worth spending time in the kitchen!