Recipe: Rahul Gandhi's Special Marmalade

When Rahul Gandhi gets into the kitchen to cook, a video of him in front of the stove is bound to go viral.

On the New Year, the politician, joined by his mom Sonia Gandhi, decided to make marmalade from scratch, 'just implementing' his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's recipe to rustle up his mother's favourite jam.

In the video, titled Mum, Memories and Marmalade, Rahul works like a pro, plucking juicy oranges from his garden, peeling and de-segmenting them, before cooking the pulp in giant handis as he whips up at least three dozen jars of jam that bear the tag: 'With (heart emoji) From Sonia & Rahul'.

The recipe-making is accompanied by really cute, natural banter provided by mother and son about the food they like to eat and more -- Sonia must have 'arahar ki dal aur chawal' the moment she returns from a trip abroad.

Sonia says Rahul is very affectionate, but confesses that Rahul and she 'dono zidh karte hai (we are both stubborn)'.

Their kitchen is so simple and ordinary, its homeliness instantly appeals. No fancy-schmanzy trimmings or gadgets and he uses a bunch of traditional Indian pots.

The rasoi session immediately struck a chord with viewers who remark: 'Apart from politics, it's heart warming to watch mother and son bondage' or 'Really nice to mother and son together. A pure humane nature. No politics here'. Or 'this is the real bonding between Mother and Son... Great... No show off ... No dramatisation, no script, no cut, no visual effect... But pure relationship'.

It's his 'kinda Jam Session', and he has also asked his followers to share the best memory with their mothers in 2023. The gift is a delicious jar of hand-made marmalade.

If you view the video of Rahul and Sonia creating marmalade, it only hints at the recipe, but this thick, chewy orange jam is very easy to prepare and the proportions are not usually cast in stone, because it is pretty difficult to ruin it. Scroll down to learn how you can cook up Rahul Gandhi's Marmalade.

Rahul Gandhi's Marmalade

Servings: 6 cups or about 3 large jam jars

Ingredients

• 2½ kg small very ripe oranges
• 5 cups castor sugar, a kind of finer sugar
• 5 cups water
• A candy thermometer
• A steel quarter plate, chilled in the freezer from at least 40 minutes before

Method

• Peel the oranges, ideally with a peeler, and cut the peels into thin strips of rind with a sharp knife.
  Keep aside.
• De-segment the oranges -- over a bowl to harvest any juice that runs off -- by removing the fibre, pith, seeds, skin or membrane, so you just have segments of the pulp and the juice.
  In a large saucepan start cooking the pulp and the juice with 1 cup of the sugar and 4 cups of the water over low heat.
  Keep stirring constantly for about 25 minutes.
• Side by side, on another by burner, cook the strips of rind in another large saucepan with 2 cups sugar, 1 cup water for 25 minutes over low to medium heat till it becomes a thick syrup of rinds.
• Add the syrup of rinds and the remaining 2 cups sugar to the cooking pulp.
  Keep stirring.
  With a large spatula keep removing the white sugar scum that forms on top.
• Using a candy thermometer, simmer the jam for about 40 minutes, till it is about 115°C and starts to darken.
• Run a jam freezer plate test.
  Drop a dollop of jam on the plate and if after 30 seconds, when the plate is tilted, the jam does not run and holds, the marmalade is ready.
  Take off heat.
  Cool.
  Bottle.

Editor's Note: You might consider bundling the pith, membrane and other discard from the orange peeling process in a cheesecloth and add it, tied, to the simmering jam. This helps in the thickening since the pith etc contain pectin. The cheesecloth can be fished out after the marmalade is ready.

Marmalade does well with interesting additives like a few tsp lemon juice or 1 tbsp grated ginger or a dash of whiskey or gin. Or for an Indian flavour, add a few cloves, a few cardamom and a few sticks cinnamom while it cooks, wrapped in a muslin cloth and remove later.