Using up a whole Pineapple!

I have love hate relationship with Pineapple. At times I would crave for it and then, sometimes when its staring at me I would not touch it 😀 One of my recent loves is to sprinkle chat masala all over sweet sour pineapple pieces and gobble them up! But you can never finish off one whole pineapple this way. Thats when I decided I should make home made pineapple squash and preserve! I just went by my instincts and both these have come up so well. Do you also hate the extreme levels of sugar in the store bought jams? You should really try making jams at home - with fresh fruit. Not only the sugar levels can be reduced to our liking, the flavours can be changed as per our moods too. I wasnt very sure of this preserve, but I was damn sure about the squash turning up quite good. We now have 200gms of pineapple preserve and almost 500ml of squash for us to relish anytime we want - all with one whole pineapple!

Pineapple Preserve

What I used - 

• Pineapple Pieces - 1 cup
• Sugar - ½ cup or less
• Cinnamon Powder - ½ tsp

How I made - 

1. In a thick bottomed vessel, I added finely chopped pineapple pieces along with the sugar. One can also pulse the pineapple in a food processor if you dont want a chunky preserve.
2. Put the mixture on low flame and keep stirring until the consistency is quite thick - jam like and there is only about a teaspoon of juices left. Add cinnamon powder (optional).
3. Let it cool completely before transferring it to a glass jar.

Pineapple Lemon Squash

What I used - 

• Pineapple Juice - 3 cups
• Pineapple Pieces Crushed- ½ cup
• Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
• Sugar - ¾ to 1 cup

How I made - 

1. In a thick bottomed vessel, add the pineapple juice and the crushed pineapple pieces, bring it to boil - it takes about ten minutes on low flame.
2. Add sugar and keep stirring occasionally. When the sugar pineapple syrup thickens, take a drop of it in your palm. When touched with your finger, if it forms a thin string - its done.
3. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice (optional - if your pineapple is sour, skip this step).
4. Let it cool completely before bottling it and storing it in refrigerator.

PS - I have no decent picture of my squash and will update it asap 🙂