Green tomato jam: 4 recipes

For several centuries, tomatoes have been used in cooking. Typically, ripe fruits with yellow, red and pink color are used. In some countries there are no conditions to constantly grow this crop. Most often this is due to the climate, which does not allow vegetables to fully ripen. And often the question arises of how to use tomatoes that have not had time to ripen. You can pick green fruits and keep them in the house until ripening. However, unripe tomatoes can be used in their original form. If you heat the vegetables, you can destroy the fungal lesions of this culture and use them for food.

Tomato is a representative of nightshade vegetables. For this type of fruit, the presence in the composition of toxic components that are not present in ripe vegetables is characteristic. Green tomatoes have a rigid structure and not very pleasant aftertaste. Consequently, unripe tomatoes are not recommended for use without proper processing, as it is not only not tasty, but also dangerous to health. There are many cases where poisoning occurs as a result of the consumption of green vegetables.

Tomatoes are an excellent crop that can be used in salt preservation. However, there are many known uses for tomatoes with different sweeteners. The most popular way is to make jam from such tomatoes. With the proper preparation of such a dessert, you can save it for several seasons.

On a note! Green tomato can have a healing effect when used outdoors. If you apply such a product to the legs, you can cure varicose veins. Also, unripe tomatoes in the human diet will help restore acid-base balance in the body and help cleanse the intestines.

Composition and calorie content

The composition of unripe specimens differs from ripe berries. They contain almost all representatives of vitamin B group, also they contain vitamins A, E and PP, ascorbic acid. Subject to the technology of manufacturing a dessert of green vegetables, you can save all the valuable components of the product. Unripe vegetables contain iron, copper, potassium and magnesium, various amino acids. A distinctive feature of such vegetables is the presence of elements such as solanine, lycopene and tomato.

Solanine is a toxic component. Compared with ripe tomatoes in an immature culture, this element is contained in larger quantities. This substance is designed to protect the vegetable from mold fungus. As they mature, the content of solanine decreases.

The consumption of a green vegetable with a high concentration of this element in a small amount can have a beneficial effect on the human body. So, the product is able to establish the functioning of the cardiovascular system, characterized by antiviral and antispasmodic properties. In addition, solanine has a diuretic effect.

It must be remembered that exceeding the permissible doses will negatively affect the components of the blood, namely, it will disrupt the function of red blood cells in transporting oxygen in the body. The substance negatively affects the nervous system. To get severe intoxication, a person just needs to eat 4-5 tomatoes. The manifestations of this ailment are pain in the abdomen, nausea, headaches and indigestion. In severe forms of poisoning, even death is possible.If after eating an unripe tomato a person has unpleasant symptoms, you should immediately take a sorbent drug and seek help from a doctor.

Tomatin also refers to toxic elements and is a component of unripe tomatoes. To get an overdose of this substance, you need to eat four kilograms of vegetables that a person can not overpower. In a small volume, the substance accelerates the growth of muscle mass, promotes the breakdown of fats and strengthening immunity. This substance acts as an integral element of the drug called "Cortisone."

Lycopene is a substance that is responsible for the color of the fetus. It is an antioxidant element that protects DNA cells from cancer changes. Useful substance for eye pathologies. It reduces the risk of atherosclerosis, normalizes blood pressure and reduces cholesterol.

An overdose of this component can cause skin discoloration. In this case, it is enough to take a sorbent tablet and exclude the side effect of the use of lycopene.

Serotonin, or the hormone of happiness, is also a component of green vegetables. The substance is able to cheer up, improve brain activity and normalize the transmission of nerve impulses.

Phytoncides are also found in green vegetables, which help reduce the risk of inflammatory processes in the body. In addition, the fruits contain unsaturated fatty acids (in small doses), interchangeable and essential amino acids.

The calorie content of the culture is only 23 kcal per 100 g of vegetables.

What is the use of green tomato jam

1. For green tomatoes, a painkiller and anti-inflammatory effect are characteristic. Also, vegetables have a diuretic and antihypertensive effect.
2. The product strengthens capillaries and fights against viral and fungal diseases.
3. Useful vegetable for pathologies of the liver, as well as the upper respiratory tract.
4. The presence of dietary fiber helps to cleanse the intestines.
5. External use of slices of green culture will help in the treatment of varicose veins.
6. Jam from green tomatoes protects the body from the development of diseases of the organs of the cardiovascular system.

Important! It must be remembered that green tomatoes should not be used for self-medication. Be sure to consult with a specialist.

It was previously believed that in the finished jam, most of the beneficial properties are missing. Today, many recipes are known through which you can preserve the true value of the ingredient.

Researchers have even concluded that heat-treated tomatoes have even higher nutritional value compared to raw vegetables. The explanation of this fact is that when exposed to high temperatures, one third more of a substance such as lycopene is synthesized. However, prolonged cooking is unacceptable. It is important to adhere to a certain number of minutes during the preparation of the dessert.

How to choose tomatoes for jam

When choosing green tomatoes, you should pay attention to vegetables that have no damage. They must be firm and fleshy.

Experienced hostesses recommend, if possible, buying plum-shaped varieties, since they have a denser structure, but the rest are quite suitable for making jam. For such a treat you can take tomatoes of any size.

Fruits with cracks and rot are not suitable. You should not trim the damaged areas and use the vegetable for dessert, because microorganisms have already penetrated into the vegetable and will continue to multiply in the finished jam.

Before cooking, a preliminary preparation is required.First of all, it is necessary to select raw materials for future jam. As already mentioned, green fruits contain solanine, a large amount of which can harm the human body. In ripe tomatoes, it is much smaller. Before making jam from unripe fruits, you will have to get rid of this substance. To do this, you can pour the tomatoes with purified water and soak them for 3-4 hours. During this time, the tomato "poison" will disappear. You can use another method. To do this, green vegetables should be soaked for an hour in water with added salt. In this case, only the amount of free time should be taken into account, since both methods are effective.

After that, the tomatoes should be dried on a towel and chopped. Before cooking, cut out the areas where the stalk of the vegetable is located. It is also necessary to remove black spots from the tomato. The grinding method depends on the preferences and the recipe used. Most often, tomatoes are cut into cubes or slices, like an orange.

How to cook jam from green tomatoes: recipes

To get jam from the green culture, you can use both small and large vegetables. Small tomatoes can be cooked whole, while large tomatoes will need to be chopped taking into account the recommendations of the recipe.

If previously unripe tomatoes have never been used to make jam, first you need to cook a small amount. To understand which recipe is most suitable, it is better to use several options.

Classic Green Tomato Jam Recipe

Of the ingredients you will need 350 ml of water, a kilogram of unripened vegetables and a half kilogram of granulated sugar. First you need to pour water into the pan, put on fire and bring to a boil. After this, slowly add sugar, constantly stirring.

Next you need to simmer the syrup over low heat until all the grains have dissolved. When a syrup of the desired consistency is formed, the pan should be removed from the stove. Now prepare the vegetables. At this stage, cutting, washing and drying of tomatoes is carried out. If necessary, tomatoes should be chopped. After soaking in purified or salted water, vegetables must be poured into a cooking container and pour the syrup obtained earlier. In this form, the jam blank should stand for about a day. In this case, the pan needs to be covered with several layers of gauze.

After the specified period, it is necessary to drain the resulting sweet liquid and boil it separately in another container. Tomatoes should be poured again with the resulting composition and left for another 15-16 hours. After this, the process of cooking the dessert begins.

You need to cook over low heat until a thick syrup is formed and transparent fruits are obtained. To determine the readiness of the treat, drip the sweet mixture onto the paper. If the liquid is not completely saturated, then the dessert is ready.

Unripe Tomato Jam with Citric Acid

To make such a jam, you will need 350 ml of water, one and a half kilograms of sugar in the form of sand, 1.2 kilograms of green tomatoes and a quarter of a teaspoon of citric acid. It should be noted right away that only purified and filtered water is used to make jam. Tap water is not suitable for such purposes, since it contains a large amount of chlorine. Next, you need to prepare the vegetables, soak them in water to get rid of solanine, dry and cut into cubes or slices. Raw materials should be placed in the pan, pour enough water so that the tomatoes are drowned in liquids. If necessary, the amount of water can be slightly increased. Place a bowl of vegetables on the stove and bring to a boil. After that, the fire should be reduced to a minimum and cook for 10 minutes.

Drain the resulting cooking liquid, add sugar to the tomatoes, mix gently and boil over low heat for another twenty minutes. After this time, the pan must be removed from the stove and left for 2-3 hours. This is necessary so that the vegetables absorb the syrup, become more dense.

Next, the jam must be cooked for another 15-20 minutes and again left for a couple of hours. Then follows the third stage of cooking. In this case, you need to add citric acid to the jam. The result should be a mass of thick consistency with a yellow tint. In hot form, dessert should be rolled up in jars, turned over and left in this form for 24 hours. After a day, jam can be removed in a cold place.

Tomato jam with rum and cloves

To make this type of jam, you need 40 g of rum, 0.5 liters of water, a glass of vinegar, one kilogram of green tomatoes, sugar in the same amount, two buds of cloves and one lemon. As in other recipes, vegetables should first be prepared for further processing. For this, tomatoes need to be soaked in salted liquid or purified water and chopped in a convenient way. Next, start cooking the syrup. First you need to use 0.5 kg of granulated sugar and 0.5 liters of water. After the sugar is completely dissolved, vinegar must be added. In the resulting mixture, put the chopped tomatoes, cook for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Mass insist about 12 hours.

After this, drain the liquid, add the remaining sugar to the green vegetables and bring to a boil again. At this time, you need to prepare a lemon. To do this, citrus should be washed and cut into cubes along with the peel. When the jam begins to boil, you need to boil it for 5 minutes, and then add chopped lemon. Then add cloves, mix and simmer over low heat. When the dessert begins to merge with syrup, remove the pan from the stove. Rum should be added after the jam has completely cooled. It remains only to pour the mass into banks and send for storage in the refrigerator.

Jam from green tomatoes and nuts

To get jam according to this recipe, 1.2 kilograms of sugar, 1.5 cups of water, 200 grams of peeled walnuts and a kilogram of green tomatoes should be prepared. For such a delicacy, you can choose small tomatoes that are conveniently cut into circles of small thickness. The peeled nut kernels should be fried in a pan without using oil for five minutes. After that, the nuts have to be chopped. To do this, you can use a blender or coffee grinder. Next, you need to prepare a thick syrup from the specified amount of water and granulated sugar. Tomatoes with nuts should be put in a pan and put on the stove. From above, vegetables with nuts should be poured with syrup, covered with gauze in several layers or with an ordinary kitchen towel and left for 18-20 hours at room temperature. After that, pour the syrup, boil it and add it to the vegetables again. Now it remains only to roll up a delicious treat on the banks.

Jam storage rules

Ready jam, rolled up in jars, can be stored on the shelf of the pantry or in the basement for one year. In this case, the temperature in the room should not exceed 22 degrees. However, if jam from green tomatoes was prepared in compliance with all requirements and taking into account all stages, temperature differences are not terrible for the product.

If the jam is stored in the refrigerator and at the same time is closed with a nylon cover, its shelf life is only three months.

Interesting facts about tomatoes

1. Translated from Italian, the tomato has the meaning of "golden apple."
2. Tomatoes are used as seasoning even in dried form. It is noteworthy that for drying such vegetables 8-10 days are enough. During this period, they are able to lose up to 90 percent of the total mass.
3. The country of origin of tomatoes is South America.It is known that even now wild varieties of this culture grow there.
4. For a long time, tomatoes were inedible and poisonous foods. Therefore, the culture was used mainly as a decorative and exotic plant.
5. Tomatoes appeared in Russia only in the 18th century. The largest number of such vegetables is produced in China. The next place is given to India, and then to the USA. For comparison, every third tomato was grown in the Chinese state.
6. The pulp of ripened vegetables is used in folk medicine to treat various wounds and even burns. This is due to the high content of phytoncides in the pulp, which are the so-called antibiotic of plant origin and prevent the development of infection.
7. Already at a temperature of 10 degrees, the plant loses its ability to reproduce, as a result of which the culture dies. Tomato seeds can be stored for up to eight years under special conditions. During this time, they will not lose their ability to germinate.
8. From a botanical point of view, tomatoes are not vegetables. They can not even be attributed to fruit. Tomato is a berry.
9. For a long time, this berry belonged to aphrodisiacs, but numerous studies have disproved this hypothesis.
10. In Ukraine there is a monument to the tomato.
11. The largest tomato was grown in one of the US states. Its weight reached almost three kilograms.
12. Tomato is a member of the nightshade family. He is a relative of potatoes and tobacco.
13. In tomatoes, the daily norm of vitamin C is contained. However, if direct sunlight is exposed to vegetables during storage, this vitamin is quickly lost. Compared to other products (when heat treatment reduces part of the beneficial components) exposure to high temperatures on tomatoes only improves their healing properties.