Homemade with fresh produce, these jams, concentrates and preserves are not the run-of-the-mill sweet spreads that pass off as fruit treats in the market. These fruity treats capture the warmth and sweetness of the sun and the rain in glass jars. Made without preservatives, artificial colours or flavours, these homemade delicacies celebrate the fruit in myriad forms.
And in Kerala, there is some fruit or the other that is in season. In addition to native fruits such as banana and jackfruit, several new ones such as dragon fruit, mangosteen and rambutan have found takers here. Many of the fruits are preserved as jams, marmalades, pickles, fruit concentrates and more.
Concerns about artificial additives have pushed many customers to buy local, from enterprising home cooks who have turned their passion for cooking into micro-enterprises. Here are four home-cooks who have a steady clientele for their homemade brands. Fruits to drink Homemade fruit concentrates made by Preethi Abraham | Photo Credit:SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Sip on freshness with Preethi Abraham’s orange-lime or ginger-lime, two of her top-sellers.
Preethi’s homemade food had always won her compliments from her children’s friends thanks to the treats she packed for their school lunch. When Preethi’s daughter became pregnant, she began making fruit concentrates that did not use artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. Friends and family fell in love with the orange lime and ginger lime squash that she made.
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