Mango & Lime Jam

It's always nice when friends show both imagination and an understanding of what you're about when choosing gifts for you, so I was touched by the gift of a box of 6 fat red-green mangoes as part of an anniversary present last weekend. (Don't worry, these friends know us both well, the present included a bottle of Port for Pete!)

The variety of mangoes seemed best suited to preserving but, having made a green tomato and raisin chutney only last week, I decided to go for the sweeter option of jam. Lime has a wonderful affinity with mango, I find. So mango and lime jam it was!

Mango & Lime Jam
Ingredients
1.5 kilos of mango flesh
1.5 kilos of sugar
Juice of 6 limes
Zest of 6 limes
1 packet pectin powder

Ingredients Notes
Even with the lime juice, the jam is very sweet. You may want to reduce the sugar by up to a third.
I use a small sharp knife, not a zester, to peel the zest from citrus, so I get virtually all of the zest off each lime. If you're using one of a zester or grater, which leaves a lot of green behind, you may want to use the zest from more limes.

Method

• Peel the mangoes and remove as much of the flesh as possible. Roughly dice and weigh. (Adjust the amounts of the other ingredients to match the weight of mango flesh).
• Mix the mango and sugar in a bowl and leave in the fridge for about an hour (or longer).
  This helps draw some of the juices out of the mango flesh.
• Zest and juice the limes.
  
• Chop the zest into small pieces.

• Place all the ingredients into a large pan and bring to the boil.
• Continue boiling until you achieve a set.
  (Either use a jam thermometer or the cold plate wrinkle test to check for a set).
• Bottle into hot sterilised jam jars and sterilised lids.

Note: a few months after I made this jam, we cracked open a jar (in March) and found that the lime has given the jam a really savoury flavour! It works well as a sweet-savoury condiment with cheese and I reckon it'd be nice with popadoms too!