Jam Melon Pickles

Tania at Out Back posted recipe for Wild Peach and Melon Jam or Quandong and Jam Melon Jam or Citron Melon depending on where you live etc. In Australia we don't use watermelon rind for making pickles like in the States, as far as I know.

I commented on Tania's post: "We have some jam melons that are hopefully still OK. We hope to make some pickles, guess we should get on to that soon. We have run out of the pickles that we made last time and need some more."

Our son missed the pickles and it was he that said we had run out. I have a tiny bit left in one jar that I asked hubby to keep as a reference point. It tastes like cauliflower pickles. It is yellow like the cucumber and apple pickles my mother always made. It is my son's homework you see in the picture!

As you can see we have cut up the melon! In our family there is a tradition of helpers cutting up melons. Apparently my Nana got her kids to help, in our family hubby and I do it. Pickles is great because you cut one night and do the rest of the work the next day.



Some of ours were stored in a cupboard on the verandah. These were off, but the two inside in the kitchen in a box were OK. They have been salted down for pickles. However, they were very pale, the skin soft and you will notice something like bean sprouts in with the seeds. The jam melons have sprouted. The sprouts are very awful to taste, so we were very careful to try to get them all out. It is spring here, and these seeds are very mature. Jam melons have two coloured seeds depending on which one you have. Ours is the one in the middle. I am not an expert because my husband and I didn't continue on the jam melon legacy of my Mum and Nana until recently, so we are learning it nearly from scratch.





The recipe we used.

(Jam) Melon Pickles

5kg melon approx.
6 large onions
2 tablespoons mustard powder
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups white sugar
6 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup salt
4 tablespoons plain flour

Cut up melon into 1cm slices remove rind and seeds. Dice slices into 1cm cubes. Chop onions, sprinkle everything with salt, mix thoroughly and stand overnight. In the morning strain off all liquid and discard, mix the dry ingredients with half the vinegar, put into the pan with fruit and vegetable, and stir till it boils. Then add the rest of the vinegar, and boil till tender. Takes about 2 hours with lid removed. Add flour 10 minutes before the end, after mixing it with a bit of the pickles liquid in a small mixing bowl, ensure there are no lumps and that it is still runny.

Makes 13-16 jars.

It is a bit like cauliflower pickle.

More recipes tomorrow.