The composition and properties of walnut jam, the benefits and harms of dessert. Preparing green walnuts for jam

No wonder it is considered one of the most delicious and refined.

Unusual taste and wonderful aroma make it truly delicious. But it is also beneficial, because it contains vitamins, trace elements and phytoncides - substances that rid the body of microbes and protozoa.

To make an unusual delicacy, nuts are required that have already formed, but have not yet hardened. The shell of the nut (under the green skin) is still white and tender.

To check the nuts for maturity, you need to pierce the fruit with a toothpick in the direction opposite to the twig. The best fruits are usually harvested in the 20th of June.

Preparation of green walnuts

Nuts should be carefully washed, cleaned of green crust and soaked for two days in cool water, which should be changed every 6-7 hours.

Note! When peeling nuts, brown spots remain on the fingers, left by the substance juglone. This substance is used in the manufacture of hair dye, it is not washed off with either water or soap. You will have to walk more than one day with dirty fingers. To prevent this from happening, use gloves when peeling nuts.

Hydrated lime (half a kilo) pour 5 liters of water for 4-5 hours. Strain and place the fruits in the infusion for about 10-15 hours. Soaking nuts in an alkaline solution is done in order to rid them of bitterness.

After that, rinse the nuts thoroughly with tap water. Now they need to lie down soaked in clean water (change in the same way as before, three times a day) for another two days.

Only after that you can start the actual preparation of jam.

How to make Armenian nut jam

There are several ways to prepare this delicacy. They differ mainly in additives.

First option

Nuts - 100 pieces

Water - 400 ml

Sugar - 1 kg

Lemons - 2 pieces

Spices

Boil sugar syrup, which then cool. Squeeze juice from citruses, add to the syrup along with spices (for example, you can put cinnamon and cloves).

Gently place the nuts in the syrup, bring to a boil and simmer slightly.

During the day, the jam should be infused. Then do the same again and again (three times in total).

After another day, boil, put the jam in jars and cork.

Second option

It differs slightly in composition and preparation.

Nuts - 100 pcs.

Sugar - 2 kg

Water - 500 ml

Carnation - 10 pcs. and other spices to taste.

Prepared nuts first boil on the smallest fire for 15 minutes in ordinary water with constant stirring. Throw in a colander, wait until cool, and dry. Put the ingredients for the syrup in a bowl and boil.

Put the nuts into the cooled syrup. If there are a lot of them, add more syrup. Add spices to your taste: cloves, cinnamon, vanilla, anise, etc.

Boil over low heat for two hours, cool slightly and arrange in jars.

According to this recipe, without lemon, you get a brown jam, and according to the first one - light. But you can not put a lemon in the first case, and put it in the second - it all depends on your desire.

Armenian nut jam is an amazing delicacy. It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare such delicious food.

Bon appetit!

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When jam from young walnuts appears on the table, it is impossible to resist. This is a dessert with an amazing delicate taste and amazing aroma, which is able to withstand fierce competition among exquisite sweets. It is easy to cook it yourself to please loved ones and surprise guests.

This dessert has long been made in Southeast Asia, the Near and Middle East. Through the efforts of travelers, the recipe came to the peoples of the North Caucasus and Moldova. Currently, nut jam is one of the favorite desserts in Greece, Spain, Italy, and the Kuban. In Soviet times, Joseph Stalin himself was a fan of delicious jam, who fell in love with a delicacy back in his native Georgia. Until now, the dessert conquers the hearts and stomachs of gourmets around the world.

The benefits of jam from young nuts

In addition to great taste, young walnut jam contains many useful elements:

Vitamin C, and its amount in nuts significantly exceeds the content in citrus fruits.
B vitamins and tocopherol.
Nut jam contains iodine, which is necessary in the treatment of hypothyroidism.
Delicacy helps in the fight against influenza, sore throat, viral diseases, insomnia, nervous disorders, hypertension.

Walnuts are rich in vitamin C and iodine

How to cook a dessert from young fruits

The process of cooking nut jam takes a long time: 6-8 days. In addition, it is quite laborious, but the taste of the product is worth the effort. Sometimes nuts are soaked for 2-3 weeks, only after that they start cooking. The classic recipe includes the following ingredients:

green nuts;
sugar;
water;
carnation;
lemon or citric acid;
slaked lime for soaking nuts.

Spices and spices - cardamom, cinnamon, vanillin, orange peel will help diversify the taste of delicacies. They can be added to jam in different combinations:

during cooking, a bag with a mixture of cinnamon, cloves and cardamom is lowered into the boiling dessert: spices will set off the delicate taste of nuts and enhance the aroma;
to give a touch of exoticism and enhance the taste, mix vanillin, orange zest and cinnamon - pour the mixture into the jam 10 minutes before the end of cooking, after which the delicacy is laid out in sterilized jars.

Store nut jam in the dark and cool, at a temperature of more than +20 ° C. Shelf life of treats: 12 months from the date of manufacture.

Sterilization is a heat treatment method that prevents the growth of bacteria and microorganisms in a product. Sterilize empty jars and filled ones. The easiest way is to douse jars with boiling water, and then put them on the spout of a boiling kettle. Keep it like this for 12-15 minutes. The jars filled with the finished product are sterilized by placing them in cold water on a wooden stand. Water should be "up to the shoulders" of the container. Bring to a boil. Boil for 8-15 minutes, take out and cover with lids.

Ingredients for jam - gallery

Before boiling, the nuts are soaked in lime for 2-3 weeks. Sugar is an essential ingredient in any jam. Purified water is used to soak green nuts in lime. A subtle aroma of jam will add cloves By adding lemon to the recipe, you can get a dessert with a pleasant sour aftertaste. Lime is the result of calcium processing, a natural product that does not adversely affect the body Cardamom and other spices will enhance the flavor of the jam Cinnamon adds an exotic touch to nut jam Orange zest is added to jam with vanilla and cinnamon

Green walnut jam - a classic step by step recipe with a photo

Take the fruits of milky ripeness. You can check it like this: we pierce the fruit with a canape skewer and if it easily enters the pulp, the nut is suitable for jam. No need to be afraid of such a check, anyway, before cooking the treat, you will have to pierce the fruit.

Ingredients:

green walnuts - 4 kg;
sugar - 2.5 kg;
water - 2 liters;
carnation - 7 pcs.;
citric acid - 8 g;
slaked lime (100 g per 1 liter of water).

Cooking:

My nuts, remove the tails and fill the fruits with water for 5 days. If there are doubts about the sufficient ripeness of the fruits, we keep them in water for 7 days. We change the water every 5-6 hours.
Wash the fruits for jam and soak for several days in plain water
We prepare a solution of slaked lime: 500 g per 5 liters of water. Mix and let stand 30 minutes.
Lime mortar for soaking nuts is defended for half an hour
Pour the solution into the nuts, laid out in a large container. We leave for a day. During this time, harmful substances leave the product.
We leave walnuts in a lime solution for 24 hours
After soaking, we wash the fruits. We pierce small nuts with a toothpick in 3-4 places, large ones - cut in half.
Then blanch the nuts in boiling water for 15-20 minutes. Water after this time must be drained.
Boil water in a saucepan, then add the fruits and cook for 15-20 minutes
Wash the nuts with cold water. They will change color to olive. Blanch again for 30 minutes until the fruit darkens.
After cooking, the fruits should darken to brown.
We take another pan and cook sugar syrup.
Dissolve sugar in boiling water to make syrup
Pour cloves and citric acid into the syrup.
To improve the taste of jam, cloves are added to sugar syrup.

9. Pour the boiling syrup over the nuts and cook for 5-6 minutes. Then remove from the stove and let stand for 60 minutes.

10. Repeat the cooking process every hour. In total, we must boil the fruits 5 times. In the final, boil the nuts for 15 minutes and pour into sterilized jars. Close with lids.

Nut jam is poured into sterilized containers

Walnut Jam Recipes

There are many ways to prepare a nut dessert, because every nation, like every housewife, brings its own unique touches to this sweet delicacy.

Fast way

Ingredients:
- green nuts - 100 pieces;
- granulated sugar - 1 kg.
Cooking:
1. We cut off sections with cuttings from the nuts. Fill with water and leave for 36 hours. We change the water every 3 hours.
2. Transfer the nuts to a bowl and sprinkle with sugar.
3. Let it brew for 3-4 hours until the juice is released.
4. We put on low heat and cook until foam appears. We remove the foam.
5. Arrange in jars and close with lids.
A quick way to make nut jam - video

Armenian nut dessert: two ways

For a liter jar of prepared nuts, you need to take 1 kg of sugar and 800 ml of water.

Preparatory stage:
1. Soak nuts for 10 days. During the day, the water needs to be changed 4 times, but it is better to soak the nuts under a thin stream of running water.
2. We make a lime mortar: for 7 liters of water we take 0.5 kg of lime. We stir. Let it brew for 5 minutes and drain the solution into another container to get rid of the primary sediment. We defend the solution for another 12 hours, filter.
3. Pour nuts for 12 hours with a solution, stir occasionally. Drain the lime water and soak the fruits for 5 hours.
4. We pierce the nuts from several sides with a toothpick.
5. We prepare an alum solution based on the proportion of 15 g of alum per 1 liter of water. Boil nuts in it for 20 minutes. This process is necessary to neutralize lime residues.
6. Drain the solution. We put the fruits under running water for 60 minutes, then pour boiling water and blanch for another 30 minutes.
Preparing jam:
1. Bring nuts in sugar syrup to a boil, cook for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and leave for 12 hours.
2. We repeat the procedure of boiling and infusing nuts in syrup 3 times. Such large intervals of time are necessary for the best release of juice from the nuts.
3. When cooking, the resulting foam must be removed.
4. In the final stage of cooking for 12 liters of jam, we need 12 g of cinnamon, 4 g of cardamom and 6 g of cloves. We put the spices in a gauze bag, dip it into the jam for 15–20 minutes, and then remove it from the nut mass.
5. We cook the delicacy to the required density: a drop of jam, when it hits a cold plate, should keep its shape and not spread.
6. Arrange in jars and close with lids.
Armenian jam - video

Second way

Ingredients:
- green nuts - 100 pcs.;
- sugar - 1 kg;
- water - 400 ml;
- carnation - 10 pcs.;
- lemon - 2 pcs.;
- cardamom - 3 g;
- cinnamon - 10 g.
Cooking:
1. We prepare nuts in advance by peeling and soaking in lime mortar for a day.
2. Boil the sugar syrup for 7-10 minutes. Let's cool down.
3. Put the nuts in the syrup and pour in the lemon juice. Boil and leave for 24 hours. We repeat the procedure 3 times.
4. Fruit should be soft when cooked. This indicates the readiness of the nuts.
5. 10 minutes before the end of cooking, put the spices in a bag. We put in jam.
6. We remove the foam from the surface of the jam. We take out the spices. We lay out the delicacy in jars.
  Nuts after cooking in syrup should darken and acquire a glossy sheen
  
  Ukrainian recipe
  
  Ingredients:
  - young nuts - 1 kg;
  - sugar - 1.2 kg;
  - lemon - 1 pc.;
  - carnation - 8 pcs.
  Cooking:
  
  Italian hazelnut chocolate treat
  
  Ingredients:
  - boiled green nuts - 1 kg;
  - sugar - 1 kg;
  - cocoa powder - 100 g;
  - anise, cinnamon and red pepper - on the tip of a knife;
  - water - 300 ml.
  Cooking:
  
  Bulgarian recipe
  
  Ingredients:
  - nuts - 1.1 kg;
  - sugar - 1 kg;
  - citric acid - 1 tsp;
  - zest of a medium orange;
  - vanillin on the tip of a knife;
  - water - 1 glass.
  Cooking:
  
  Is it possible to cook jam without lime
  
  Almost all recipes say that nuts should be soaked in lime mortar. But if there are still concerns about the safety of the chemical composition, you can do without lime.
  
  Soda method
  
  Ingredients:
  - nuts - 100 pcs.;
  - soda - 250 g;
  - lemon - 1 pc.;
  - sugar - 2 kg;
  - water - 4 tbsp.
  Cooking:
  1. Cut the skin off the walnuts and soak them in warm water for 48 hours. We change the water every 5 hours.
  2. We fall asleep wet nuts with soda and roll the fruits well on all sides. Leave for 13 hours, periodically turn over.
  3. We wash the nuts with water and pierce with a clamp needle or fork.
  4. Fill the fruits with water for 48 hours, changing the liquid at the same frequency.
  5. Put nuts in boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Pour the water into another container.
  6. Cool the fruits for 5 minutes and boil again in boiling brine. So we repeat 3 times.
  7. Cooking sugar syrup. We shift the fruits into it and boil for 3 minutes.
  8. We take it off the fire. We wait 5 minutes and boil again.
  9. Add chopped lemon and boil for 3 minutes.
  10. We distribute to banks.
  Method with the addition of tartaric acid
  
  Tartaric or tartaric acid is also used instead of lime. You can buy it at any grocery store or supermarket. Acid removes harmful elements from nuts, gives an amazing flavor to jam.
  
  Ingredients:
  - peeled nuts - 1 kg;
  - sugar - 1.5 kg;
  - water - 1 tbsp.;
  - tartaric acid - 4 g;
  - cinnamon, cloves - to taste.
  Cooking:
  
  People who have never seen green, ie. walnuts that have not yet ripened, it is difficult to believe that jam can be made from them. And this is really real, unless you miss the right moment and remove the fruits from the tree in time. They should be fully formed, but so green that a sharp needle can easily pass through them.
  
  Before you cook a product according to one of the existing recipes, you need to realistically assess your strengths and capabilities. The process takes a lot of time, and it will have to be monitored almost constantly. But at least once in a lifetime, every housewife should do it. After all, the result is not only a delicious treat, but also a very useful composition.
  
  Cooking features
  
  Cooking walnut treats does not require any special skills. It is only necessary to strictly observe the stages of manipulation and not deviate from the recommendations given in the recipes. In addition, it is worth familiarizing yourself with a number of rules that will help facilitate the process and achieve optimal results:
  1. Jam is made exclusively from medium-sized green fruits.
  2. Before starting work, they must be peeled from a thin green peel. The procedure is tedious and dirty, which is carried out only with rubber gloves (the juice of unripe walnuts is very difficult to wash and wash off).
  3. Before boiling nuts, they need to be soaked. This stage takes 3-15 days. At the same time, water must be changed not only daily, but several times a day, otherwise the components will begin to sour.
  4. One of the traditional stages of soaking products is the use of lime mortar. Do not be afraid of this approach, you just need to follow all the recommendations. In extreme cases, instead of lime, the use of ordinary baking soda is allowed. Some prefer to simply blanch the fruits in citric or tartaric acid.
  5. Despite the fact that some recipes recommend making jam from chopped walnuts, experts do not recommend doing this. With this approach, the final product will take on the appearance of a dark and unappetizing mass.
  Even if each time you cook a dessert from green fruits according to the same scheme, it can constantly turn out to be of a different color. Do not be surprised if the finished delicacy has a dark yellow tint, then it casts black or purple.
  
  Recipe for green walnut jam
  
  We need 100 walnuts, 2 kg of granulated sugar, 0.5 kg of slaked lime, a tablespoon of alum, 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, 10 each of cloves and cardamom, 2 liters of water and a little vanilla for flavor.
  - Put the peeled nuts in a saucepan, cover with water and leave for 3 days. We change the fluid at least 4-5 times a day.
  - We drain the water, rinse the mass thoroughly, prick each nut with a fork in 2-3 places.
  Tip: Despite the obvious benefits of the product, this jam should not be used by people who are overweight. It's not even that a large amount of sugar is used to prepare the composition, walnuts themselves contain a lot of carbohydrates and are cast with high calorie content.
  - We mix lime with 5 liters of water, after which we filter through a sieve. Soak the nuts in the resulting liquid and keep for another 2-3 days. After that, the blanks are thoroughly washed again and soaked for another 3 days.
  - Blanch the prepared nuts in boiling water twice for 5 minutes, drain the water.
  - Now we begin to cook the dessert according to the available ingredients. Pour water into a saucepan and spread the sugar, dissolve it over low heat. Then we put the nuts in the syrup and a fabric bag in which all the spices are placed.
  - It remains only to cook the product, bringing it to the desired degree of density. The syrup will become glossy, with a beautiful sheen. Now you need to get the bag, spread the mass into jars, pour syrup over it and roll it up.
  With this approach, the quality of the product depends on the preparatory stage. It is on it that you should not rush, there is a risk of ruining everything.
  
  Walnut jam with citric acid
  
  We take 80 walnuts, 6 cups of sugar, 4 liters of water, 2 teaspoons of citric acid, 10 cloves and a pinch of cinnamon.
  - Fill the nuts with water, soak for 2 days, regularly changing the liquid. Then we wash the elements, prick them with a fork and soak for another 9-11 days. We change the water at least 2 times a day.
  - Only after such processing do we remove the skin from green fruits using a sharp knife for this.
  - Now we dissolve citric acid in 3.5 liters of water, put nuts in the composition and keep them for a day. We cook the mass in the same solution over medium heat for 20 minutes, after which we insist another day.
  - Thoroughly wash the blanks. From water and sugar, you need to boil the syrup, put fruits and spices in it, mix, remove from heat and leave for a day.
  - The mass must be brought to a boil again and boiled after that for only half an hour. Distribute hot jam into jars and roll up.
  This approach to preserving green ingredients is time-consuming, but allows housewives to avoid the intimidating stage of using lime.
  
  Dessert from a minimum set of components
  
  For 1 kg of walnuts, we only need 600 g of granulated sugar and a glass of water.
  - We peel off the skin from green fruits, reaching the inner content of white. The resulting blanks are soaked for 3 days in cold water, which we change every 4-5 hours. Then we wash the products under running water.
  - We prepare syrup from sugar and water. We lower the nuts into it, you need to cook such a composition for no more than 5 minutes after boiling. Remove the mass from the stove and cool completely.
  - We again put the almost ready jam on the fire and keep it for another 5 minutes, cool again and evaluate the consistency of the product. If the product is thick enough, cooking can be stopped. If you want a thicker composition, we make another circle or even more than one.
  - After you no longer need to cook the composition, we lay it out in sterile jars while still hot and roll up the containers. Fans of more fragrant delicacies can put rosemary sprigs on the surface of the composition.
  Properly prepared jam retains the maximum amount of useful components, despite the long soaking of walnuts. The finished product can replace a multivitamin complex, help with indigestion, strengthen immunity, and relieve chronic fatigue. It is recommended to use it for adults and children whose lifestyle is associated with increased mental and physical work.
  
  A few years ago, healthy green walnut jam was considered an exotic delicacy. Today, every housewife can cook it on her own, you just need to get the fruits, which must be of a certain degree of maturity. In terms of taste characteristics, the blanks are not inferior to more traditional analogues based on berries and fruits. As for the content of substances that positively affect the state of the human body, in this case, the nut dessert is superior to many other preservations.
  The composition and benefits of walnut jam
  A nutritious and quite high-calorie product can cause weight gain. 100 g of the composition contains about 250 kcal and more than 60 g of carbohydrates. The abuse of jam can harm even a healthy person. Such a small "flaw" of walnut dessert fades against the background of its beneficial properties:
  - The mass is rich in iodine. According to this indicator, the delicacy is close to seafood. The element is responsible for maintaining the functionality of the thyroid gland, normalizing hormonal levels and improving cerebral circulation.
  - Tannins and glycosides in the composition of the product have a beneficial effect on the state of the nervous system. This is especially useful for school children. Regular use of walnut jam in therapeutic amounts improves their memory, increases concentration and resistance to unusual loads. Studies have shown that dessert even facilitates the process of adapting a child to a new educational institution or team.
  - Walnut mass has a positive effect on the condition of the heart and blood vessels. The nut of milk maturity contains substances that start cleaning the blood from harmful cholesterol. This is accompanied by a decrease in high blood pressure and an improvement in the movement of blood through the vessels.
  - The abundance in the product guarantees the active removal of toxins, toxins and free radicals from the tissues. The introduction of walnut jam into the diet reduces the likelihood of the formation of cancerous tumors. For people undergoing chemotherapy, the product helps to recover faster after aggressive procedures.
  - The presence in the composition of vitamins A, C, groups B, K, PP, F and various minerals ensures the strengthening of immunity at all levels, the normalization of metabolic processes and a general improvement in the condition.
  Most clearly, the benefits of walnut jam will manifest themselves against the background of such indications for its use:
  1. Long stay in areas with unfavorable ecology or highly developed industry.
  2. The absence in the diet of a number of ingredients necessary for the normal functioning of the body (fish and seafood). Also, allergic to these products.
  3. Life situations associated with excessive stress.
  4. Increased physical activity.
  5. Conditions arising from iodine deficiency.
  According to nutritionists, the likelihood that walnut jam will harm the body is negligible. By using only 1-2 teaspoons of the product per day, you can count on the results listed above and not worry about the development of side effects. True, there are several nuances that must be remembered when introducing dessert into the diet of adults and children.
  Harm of walnut jam
  An absolute contraindication to the use of jam is an allergy to walnuts. In all other cases, the workpiece can be included in the menu, while keeping in mind the following points:
  - With diabetes, the delicacy is prepared not with sugar, but with its substitute. This point must be discussed with a doctor who will tell you the optimal dosage of the finished product and the frequency of its use, reducing potential harm to a minimum.
  Tip: In cases of cerebrovascular accidents, which often occur in the elderly, a proven folk approach should be used. You should eat 1 teaspoon of the product daily with green tea. The effectiveness of the approach will increase if the tea leaves are pre-soaked in warm milk.
  - If you are overweight, do not abuse conservation. An already high-calorie walnut becomes as nutritious as possible when sugar is connected to the process of its processing. One teaspoon of dessert 2-3 times a week will be enough.
  - During pregnancy, it is also not necessary to deny yourself. But, in order not to provoke the risk of developing "pregnancy diabetes" in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, the volume of the product should be reduced to a minimum. It is better to take 0.5 teaspoon of jam and add it to tea.
  Harm to the body can cause the use of low-quality composition. It is impossible for air to enter the jar with the workpiece; its lid must be screwed tightly. The shelf life of homemade walnut jam is no more than 9 months. An opened product should be eaten within 2 months.
  
  Rules for processing walnuts before making jam
  If desired, any housewife can learn how to cook a quality product on her own. True, the process is not easy and rather lengthy. An important point is the preparation of the ingredient, it must be milky ripe. The fruits are harvested until they start to turn rough. To determine their suitability, you can prick several copies with skewers, the tool will easily pass through the shell and pulp.
  Here are the basic rules of the preparatory process that underlie all traditional recipes:
  - We take fruits of the same size, otherwise the final product will be spoiled. There should be no spots, scratches or cracks on the skin of the product. The optimal time for harvesting is June and early July.
  - For soaking and boiling the mass, dishes with a thick bottom or an enameled container are used. In there is an active destruction of vitamin C. Aluminum containers deteriorate under the influence of acids in the composition of the workpiece.
  - During the cooking process, the mass must be regularly stirred with a wooden or glass spatula so that it does not burn.
  - Before starting the heat treatment, walnuts must be soaked. To do this, use cold clean water, which is changed every 3-4 hours for 2 days.
  - To eliminate the characteristic bitterness in the kernels, soaked nuts should be immersed in lime mortar for a day. After that, the fruits must be soaked again in cold water for a day. Before that, each nut will have to be pricked in several places with a thick needle.
  - Before cooking, the soaked blanks should be welded. To do this, they are kept in boiling water for 10 minutes and the water is drained.
  The preparatory phase ends here. Now walnuts can be used to make jam. There are many dessert recipes, you just need to choose the right one.
  white walnut jam recipe
  Jam made from walnuts can be not only brown, but also light. It turns out this way if you use blanks that have been peeled from the top green peel in the process.
  Here is one of the most popular recipes for boiling such a treat:
  - We will need 1.5 kg of nuts, peeled from the top green peel, 2 kg of granulated sugar, 2 glasses of drinking water, 2 fresh lemons, 2 cinnamon sticks and 5.
  - We cook a thick syrup from water and sugar, in which we lay the prepared nuts. We also add the juice of two lemons. We put the spices in a gauze bag, which we also lower into the jam blank.
  - Bring the mass to a boil, remove from the stove and insist for 6 hours. We repeat these manipulations 3 more times, after which the jam is ready.
  - We take out the bag of spices from the contents and throw it away. The resulting composition is laid out in sterile jars and rolled up. A couple of small jars can be closed with plastic lids, but their contents should be eaten within 2 months.
  - Ready-made preservation should be kept in a dark, cool place, at a temperature not exceeding 25ºС.
  If it is not possible to make walnut jam at home, you can look for a product in large supermarkets and fairs. In this case, you need to pay attention to the country of origin. Well, if it will be Greece or the countries of the Caucasus. The mass should be uniform in color without inclusions and bubbles. And yet, a real dessert cannot be cheap, because its preparation involves a lot of trouble and requires a certain amount of time.
  
  What are we used to seeing walnuts? A strong shell, inside of which there are delicious kernels that we eat just like that or add to soups, pastries, sauces, tinctures, salads, main courses ... It turns out that you can make delicious jam from whole walnuts! And today we will learn how to do it. But remember - you have to stock up on time and patience.
  
  History of an unusual recipe
  
  Do not be afraid of our courage and determination: you can really make jam from walnuts. But only not from those that have already ripened, but from quite young ones, the so-called milky maturity. These green fruits are still unsuitable for fresh food: they are bitter and taste completely different from those nucleoli that we compared in childhood with brains for their appearance.
  
  These very fruits will be needed for tasty, fragrant and healthy jam. They need to be collected, depending on the region, from the end of May to the first decade of July. For example, in the south of our country, already in mid-June, most often nuts already enter the ripening period and become unsuitable for jam: the shell begins to form and harden.
  
  To determine the right level of ripeness, pierce the fruit with a toothpick. If it easily passes through and just as easy to get - feel free to collect nuts. You can check each of them in this way, because later you still have to prick them.
  
  This is what milky ripe walnuts look like, which are suitable for jam
  
  Jam from unripe walnuts has been known since ancient times in the Middle and Near East, in the southern countries of Europe and Southeast Asia. Now this dessert is very popular in Italy, Spain, Greece, Moldova, Ukraine, the North Caucasus, and the Kuban.
  
  In each region, the recipes for this dessert have their own characteristics, but they are all based on the same principle.
  
  The general principle of making nut jam
  
  Although milky walnuts are very soft compared to fully matured walnuts, they still need additional processing before cooking. The nut juice is very bitter due to its high iodine content, so it must be removed by long soaking.
  
  Traditionally, nuts are soaked not in pure water, but in a lime solution at the rate of 100 g of the substance per 1 liter of water. Modern housewives are often indignant: “And so there is solid chemistry around, and soak nuts in lime!”. Let's remember the school course on this wonderful subject.
  
  First, all products known to us contain chemical elements. Secondly, lime is nothing more than calcium oxide, a harmless substance used everywhere in everyday life. It is not worth talking about the benefits of calcium for the body. If you remember that table salt is sodium chloride (the result of the interaction of two toxic substances), you can be completely scared. However, we add it to most dishes, and nothing, very tasty.
  
  Don't be afraid to use lime: it's just harmless calcium oxide, not an evil poison that will poison your jam.
  
  Let's finish the digression into the basics of chemistry and return to our jam. Nuts for it are soaked in a lime solution from 5 days to 2-3 weeks, until soft. Strongly darkened during this time, they are repeatedly pricked or cut in half, after which they are boiled for several hours in sugar syrup. The standard ratio of products is:
  - 1 kg of soaked nuts;
  - 1.2 kg of sugar;
  - 1 liter of water.
  The amount of ingredients may vary slightly depending on the region or even the preferences of the hostess. In addition, many people like to add spices to dessert - cinnamon, figs, anise, cloves.
  
  By the way, it is desirable that the utensils for soaking nuts be made of stainless steel: it is contraindicated for aluminum to contact water and iodine contained in nuts for so long, and you may not wash an enameled pan or bowl from persistent nut juice. For the same reason, you need to clean the nuts with gloves, so as not to walk around with black hands for a week later.
  
  Peel walnuts only with gloves: walnut juice is strongly eaten into the skin of the hands
  
  What is the use of such a dessert
  
  Compared with ripe nuts, unripe fruits contain much more vitamins (groups B, E, PP), phytoncides, tannins, and vegetable fats. All of them are preserved in fruits after making jam, albeit in smaller quantities.
  
  In folk medicine, nut jam has been used for a very long time, it effectively treats diseases such as:
  - rheumatism;
  - gout;
  - heart disease;
  - diseases of the kidneys and bladder;
  - angina;
  - furunculosis;
  - stomatitis;
  - diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
  - nervous overload;
  - hard mental work;
  - sleep problems;
  - pressure surges;
  - pregnancy (since the jam contains the required amount of iodine);
  - the rapid growth of children.
  Green walnut jam - a source of microelements useful for the body
  
  And for men, this jam is very useful: it has a positive effect on reproductive function.
  
  But it is worth noting that walnut jam is contraindicated for people with stomach ulcers, diabetes and obesity.
  
  Recipes
  
  We offer you several popular, not very complicated, but interesting ways to make jam.
  
  Classical
  
  You have probably tried prunes, and maybe you like to use them for various dishes. So, walnut jam, prepared according to the classic recipe, is very reminiscent of good dried plums, both in taste and in appearance.
  
  Walnut jam looks like prunes
  
  It will take you a lot of time. And besides that, you will need:
  - 4 kg of green nuts;
  - 2 liters of water;
  - 2.5 kg of granulated sugar;
  - 10 cloves;
  - 1 pinch of citric acid;
  - for soaking nuts - slaked lime at the rate of 100 g per 1 liter of water.
  Be sure to weigh the nuts: depending on their mass, you will have to adjust the amount of other ingredients.
  1. Rinse the nuts and put in a deep bowl or basin. Fill with water completely, to the top. At least every 6 hours, the water must be changed, and so - for 6-7 days. If you doubt that the nuts are already a little closer to ripening, keep them in water for a week. But do not forget that you also need to change the water 4 times a day! Do not worry that the liquid takes on a greenish color: it is the peel of the nuts that gives off excess juice.
    Pour the washed unripe nuts with cold water and soak for a long time
  2. Now is the time to prepare the lime mortar. Add 0.5 kg of lime to 5 liters of water. Mix the solution thoroughly and let it stand for 20-30 minutes.
    Prepare a solution of slaked lime
  3. Pour the settled clear solution without sediment into a bowl with soaked nuts. Leave for 24 hours. The fact that the surface of the nuts will darken or become stained is a natural reaction, and not at all a reason to get scared and throw away the product!
    Soak nuts in lime mortar for a day
  4. After a day, rinse the nuts thoroughly in running cold water. If they are too large, cut them in half; prick smaller nuts with a fork in several places, and deeper.
    Large nuts cut in half, small - prick with a fork
  5. Boil water in a saucepan. Throw nuts in it and blanch for 20 minutes. Drain the boiling water and cool the nuts in running cold water.
    Blanch nuts in boiling water
  6. After all these "procedures", the nuts will noticeably change color to olive or brown. Boil a pot of water again and blanch them, but for half an hour already. Drain the water again and soak the nuts in running cold water until cool.
    Boil the nuts again and cool them
  7. Have you noticed that the nuts have darkened even more? Now it's time to start making jam.
    After the nuts have darkened significantly, you can start making jam.
  8. Prepare the syrup in a separate saucepan. Dissolve sugar in boiling water, boil, stirring constantly. Add cloves and a pinch of citric acid. Pour nuts with hot boiling syrup, bring to a boil and hold for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and leave for 1 hour.
    Prepare sugar syrup and add spices to it
  9. The nuts will darken greatly after the first boiling, and you need to carry out 4 more such executions with them, each for 5 minutes, with an hour break. And finally - another 15 minutes in a boiling state, after which the jam can be poured into clean sterilized jars.
    Boil nuts in syrup several times
  Green walnut jam can be stored under lids for a whole year in a cool room, or you can eat it right away.
  
  Armenian
  
  Armenians are big fans of walnut desserts, including jam. The peculiarity of this recipe is the use of alum. In addition, be sure to peel the nuts from the skin in much the same way as potatoes. Do this only with gloves: nut juice is very difficult to wash your hands.
  
  You will need:
  - 100 pieces of young walnuts;
  - 3 kg of sugar;
  - 1.5 liters of water;
  - 10 cloves;
  - 10 g cinnamon;
  - 5 cardamom fruits;
  - 0.5 kg of slaked lime;
  - 75 g alum.
  You can start making jam.
  1. Peel the shell off each nut. Put the fruits in a deep bowl.
    Peel the skins off the nuts like potatoes
  2. Pour the nuts with clean cool water. Leave them for at least 6 days in a cool place. Change the water four times a day. The fruits will darken significantly during this time.
    Soak nuts in water for 6 days
  3. Drain the water for the last time and rinse the nuts well.
    After draining the water, rinse the nuts thoroughly
  4. Pour 0.5 kg of lime with 5 liters of water, mix thoroughly. Let stand and strain through cheesecloth.
    Prepare lime mortar, let it settle
  5. Immerse the nuts in the strained solution and keep for 24 hours, stirring from time to time, so that the fruits are completely soaked and not caked.
    Soak nuts in lime mortar
  6. Rinse the nuts again in running water, but now with special care. Prick each fruit with a fork in several places (the more holes, the better), then rinse again.
    Prick each nut with a fork
  7. Dilute 75 g of alum in 5 liters of water. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil.
    Dilute alum in water and bring to a boil
  8. Dip the nuts in boiling water with alum, cook for 10 minutes.
    Boil nuts in water with alum
  9. Throw nuts on a sieve, wait until all the water drains.
    Drain the water from the nuts through a sieve
  10. Transfer them to a deep bowl, cover with cold water and leave for an hour.
    Leave the nuts to cool in cold water
  11. While the fruits are cooling, let's do the spices. Place the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves in a cheesecloth bag.
    Prepare a gauze bag of spices
  12. Dissolve sugar in boiling water, stir and boil for 1 minute.
    Make sugar syrup
  13. Add a bag of spices, nuts to the syrup, and boil for another 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and leave to infuse for 24 hours. You need to completely repeat this procedure 3 more times. After the workpiece has settled for the last time, cook it again (it will take 3 hours) and remove the bag of spices.
    Boil nuts and spices in sugar syrup
  That's all. Now the finished jam can be put into jars and rolled up. Or serve on the table, after cooling.
  
  Walnut jam without lime
  
  If the presence of lime still confuses you, we offer a method of preparation without using this agent. It can be easily replaced by the usual and often used soda in cooking.
  
  So, take these products:
  - 100 pieces of walnuts;
  - 250 g of soda;
  - 1 lemon;
  - 2 kg of sugar;
  - 4 glasses of water.
  Cut the skin off the nuts, be sure to wear gloves, and start cooking.
  
  This jam goes well with creme brulee ice cream: in tandem, you get the taste of Coca-Cola. And, by the way, this method is the fastest. Unlike the previous ones, it will take you only 5 days to make such a jam.
  
  Italian recipe with chocolate
  
  Sunny Italy has its own traditions of making desserts. Italians are big fans of sweets, they often add additional ingredients to a familiar dish to make it original. Milk green walnut jam is very popular in this country, and we are sure that you will like its chocolate version.
  
  You will need:
  - 1 kg of nuts (already boiled);
  - 1 kg of granulated sugar;
  - 300 g of water;
  - 100 g cocoa powder.
  Take for jam only those nuts that are easily and effortlessly pierced through with a toothpick. Sort all spoiled fruits immediately.
  1. Trim each nut at both ends. This is necessary so that the fruits give off the bitter juice contained in them as quickly as possible while in the water.
    Cut nuts on both sides and fill with water
  2. Put the nuts in a deep bowl and cover with cool water. Soak for 2 weeks, changing the water 2-3 times a day.
    Don't forget to change the water regularly
  3. Sort the soaked nuts by size, cut the largest in half. If there are a lot of nuts, then you can make 2 servings of jam: one from cut large ones, and the second from whole smaller fruits.
    Sort nuts by size
  4. Rinse the selected fruits thoroughly and boil for 2 hours. After that, pierce a couple of nuts with a toothpick: if this was done without difficulty, the fruits are ready. If they are still hard, cook for another 30 minutes. Boiled nuts should remain intact and not delaminate. If you cut them, you can see that the skin has not lagged behind the still unformed shell.
  5. Prepare syrup from water and sugar, boil nuts in it for at least 1.5 hours. 15 minutes before the end of cooking, draw some syrup into a cup, and carefully, in a thin stream, pour cocoa into it, stirring constantly so that the powder does not clump.
  6. Also, while gently stirring, pour the cocoa syrup into the pan with nuts. At this stage, you can optionally add your favorite spices to the jam, such as anise, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and even hot red pepper. But do not be too zealous so that the taste is not too spicy.
    Boil nuts in sugar syrup, gradually adding cocoa and favorite spices, such as cinnamon
  Chocolate walnut jam can be not only a separate dessert. Its syrup is excellent as a sauce for cakes, pastries and ice cream.
  
  Video: making jam from young walnuts according to all the rules