Tomato and Beetroot Jam

We've been having a healthy harvest of tomatoes from our vegetable patch. It is a real blessing and a highly rewarding exercise. As summer wanes, my ritual is to prepare some fresh fruit/vegetable jam from the summer harvest. This year, the overflowing bag of fresh, plump tomatoes lured me to make some jam with sweet beets.

Although the flavor combination of tomatoes and beets is not obvious, the two come together to make a really delicious combination. The sweet flavor of the beets perfectly complement the tartness of the tomatoes. I have vague memories of this particular jam stewing and cooking away in my grandmother's (and her sister's) kitchen. My scent-memory can smell the beets cooking in the tomato puree, and my taste buds vividly recollect the subtle bite of the juicy beets and the burst of cardamom that seeps through and perfumes the jam. So, suffice to say this is one of my favorite spreads. After several years, I was happy to make a batch of this jam along with my mom.

Ingredients ( almost fills 1*16 ounces + 1*8 ounces worth of Mason jars):

1. 16 medium sized tomatoes
2. 4 medium-sized beets ; when grated using the bigger side of a box grater, it results in 4 cups (the ratio of tomatoes : beets is 4:1; you can use this ratio by volume or weight)
3. 2.5 - 3 cups sugar (depends on how sweet the beets are and how tart/sweet the tomatoes are; taste and adjust as you are preparing; I added 3 cups)
4. 1.5 teaspoons powdered cardamom

Preparation:

1.  Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Switch off the heat and blanch the tomatoes by adding them to the boiling water and immersing them for 5-7 minutes or until the skin of the tomatoes wilt and wrinkle. Remove the tomatoes and plunge them in cold water. Peel / remove the skin.
2. Grind the tomatoes (in batches if needed) to make a smooth pulp. Using a strainer (not necessary to use a fine-mesh strainer), strain the seeds and parts of the thick pulp. Straining the tomatoes wears thin on my patience, so if you are like me, skip the straining and look past the seeds in your jam!
3. In a heavy pot, bring the tomato puree to a boil on medium heat. 
4. Meanwhile, grate the beets using the larger side of a box grater (or grate finely if you don't care for some texture in the jam)
5. When the tomato puree boils, add the beets and stir well. Continue to heat/cook on medium heat (stirring periodically to avoid the bottom from burning) until the beets cook.
6. Add sugar and stir well. Continue to cook at medium heat for 40-45 minutes until the jam thickens. After 30 minutes of adding sugar, check for the right consistency of the jam every few minutes by taking a drop of it on a plate and spreading it after it cools within a few seconds. If the jam is spreadable, then you are done. You can also spoon a little jam and wait for it to cool slightly and tilt it in the spoon to see if the jam drips or stays on the spoon (check picture above). If it stays together on the spoon, it is ready to be removed from heat. Please note that the hot sugar will harden slightly as it cools, so the jam will thicken as it cools. So, do not wait for the ideal consistency when the jam is still cooking in the pot. Also, I didn't add any pectic, so the jam will not have a gelatinous texture.
7. Mix cardamom powder and remove the jam from heat. Immediately transfer the jam into clean, dry, sterilized jars. When completely cool, close the jar tightly and store in the fridge to extend shelf-life.

Enjoy with breads, crackers, and rotis.