Morabay-e beh – Iranian Quince Jam
Pane-bistecca
My sister Marisa was married to an Iranian man —I’ve mentioned this before— and she cooked a slightly modified version of her family’s recipe for Morabay-e Beh, or quince jam. I’m always happy to try new—and especially unusual—recipes!
The recipe is from her sister-in-law Nahid and is traditionally seasoned with cardamom. But this time she left out the cardamom and added cinnamon, lemon, and vanilla. My sister’s children love this jam, but Marisa and I don’t! Strange, isn’t it?
Marisa has reduced the sugar here considerably, as the jam becomes very sweet. Marisa says: “The version in Iran with a 1:1 sugar ratio was runny and not as thick. This is because the quinces are boiled down with water and sugar. In general, jams in Iran tend to be runny, as they always add water.
The cloth around the pan lid is necessary to make the quinces turn red. Without it, they apparently don’t. I don’t know if that’s actually true. But I’ve read this in other Iranian recipes for this jam, not just my relatives told me that.”
She continues: “The reason why I made this moraba? A family in my neighborhood has a quince tree, and there’s a box of quinces in front of their house with a note saying you can take them for free. So on Saturday, I took about 1.5 kg. This afternoon, I stopped by the family’s house with a small jar of this jam and a chocolate heart to thank them. I saw beaming faces. Unfortunately, you don’t really know your neighbors. But they were very happy.”
The recipe is from her sister-in-law Nahid and is traditionally seasoned with cardamom. But this time she left out the cardamom and added cinnamon, lemon, and vanilla. My sister’s children love this jam, but Marisa and I don’t! Strange, isn’t it?
Marisa has reduced the sugar here considerably, as the jam becomes very sweet. Marisa says: “The version in Iran with a 1:1 sugar ratio was runny and not as thick. This is because the quinces are boiled down with water and sugar. In general, jams in Iran tend to be runny, as they always add water.
The cloth around the pan lid is necessary to make the quinces turn red. Without it, they apparently don’t. I don’t know if that’s actually true. But I’ve read this in other Iranian recipes for this jam, not just my relatives told me that.”
She continues: “The reason why I made this moraba? A family in my neighborhood has a quince tree, and there’s a box of quinces in front of their house with a note saying you can take them for free. So on Saturday, I took about 1.5 kg. This afternoon, I stopped by the family’s house with a small jar of this jam and a chocolate heart to thank them. I saw beaming faces. Unfortunately, you don’t really know your neighbors. But they were very happy.”
Ingredients
Traditional:
approx. 1 kg Quince
330 g Sugar (reduced sugar, 75% fruit, 25% sugar)
660 ml Water
2 – 3 Kardamom pods
without Kardamom, but add the juice of half a Lemon
1 tsp Cinnamon
½ Vanilla Stick – cut open, scratched ou and the stick
Alternative:
Instructions
1
Step 1
Peel the quinces and cut them into small pieces, about 1×2 cm in size and max. 1 cm thick (preferably thinner).
2
Step 2
Place the quince slices in a tall pot with about 2/3 of the sugar, the cardamom seeds (cut them open) and 660 ml of water, then mix well.
3
Step 3
Cover and cook over medium heat for about 7-9 minutes, until the pieces are tender.
4
Step 4
Then stir in the remaining sugar and bring to the boil again over medium heat.
5
Step 5
Reduce heat and simmer on low heat (2 out of 10) with lid wrapped in kitchen towel for 2.5 to 3 hours. After approx. 2.5 hours, check color and simmer for another 30 minutes if necessary until desired color is achieved.
6
Step 6
Remove the pan from the heat and remove the cardamom seeds. Pour the jam into the jars.
Notes
For the alternative, follow the same procedure, but add the other ingredients instead of cardamom and remove the vanilla pod at the end. More Iranian Recipes
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