Pea and potato fritters (aloo mutter tikki) are a popular snack or appetizer in India. This is an updated version of the traditional tikki. I coat the fritters in panko bread crumbs before shallow frying them to create a crispy, golden, delicate crust. Tikkis are usually served with a sweet, tart tamarind sauce. I serve the fritters with tamarind jelly instead. I added a little fruit pectin to the tamarind to achieve a nice jelly like texture. The pectin is totally optional and the end result will taste equally delicious with or without the pectin.

 The main ingredient here are green peas and potatoes. I used 1 cup of peas and 1/2 cup of boiled potatoes because I wanted the peas to be the star of this dish. Add more potatoes and less peas if you like.

 Start by sauteeing frozen peas, boiled potatoes, chili powder and cumin.

 Then form the potato-pea mixture into discs. Dip the discs in flour and water. Then roll in panko. Shallow fry till crisp and golden on the outside.

 The end result is a gorgeous, golden fritter waiting to be doused in sweet, tart, cumin scented tamarind jelly..

For the tamarind jelly, I used seedless tamarind pulp that comes in a block. You can find this at the Asian store. You must boil the tamarind pulp first to extract the juice. Strain the tamarind water, and add sugar, cumin and fruit pectin to it. Boil the jelly for about 10 minutes. It will thicken up nicely and when cool, become jelly-like. The fruit pectin is totally optional. The pectin only adds to the texture and not to the flavor of this jelly.

Why did I call this a jelly and not a jam? For a great write up on the difference between jam and jelly, see this article from Tastes Like Home.

For a tamarind jam recipe using fresh tamarind, see this post from Coffee and Vanilla

When the jelly cools, it will thicken up. Once cool, store it in an air tight container.

I never eat marmalade on toast, it’s so boring! Marmalade exists for a higher purpose. Grill up some tofu with soy sauce and this marmalade. You can use this as a glaze on pretty much anything! Use it on pancakes.
Serve marmalade with brie and crackers Make an orange ginger cocktail, with some orange or pineapple juice, couple spoons of the marmalade and some rum. Or layer sponge cake with orange ginger marmalade and chocolate..heavenly!

Orange – 2 large
Water or Orange juice– 2 cups
Water – ¼th cup
Ginger root– 6 oz root
Sugar – 1 ½ cups
Fruit Pectin Powder – 3/4th of a 1.75 oz packet
Green Tea or Jasmine Tea – 1 tsp
Baking Soda – pinch
Lemon Juice – 1 tsp
Food coloring – 1 drop red, 3 drops yellow. Optional.

Zest the oranges, place zest a bowl. Then peel the skin and discard. Remove pith, seeds and any thick membrane. Squeeze the orange over the bowl and extract as much juice as you can. Chop up the remaining fruit and add to the bowl. You should have about 2 cups of orange juice, pulp and zest (from the 2 oranges).

Peel and grate the ginger. Squeeze the ginger juice out. Use between 2 tbsp to 1/4 th cup depending on how strong you want the ginger taste to be in the marmalade. I used 1/4th cup ginger juice because I love bold flavors. I also added a tbsp of finely chopped ginger pieces.

Place the ginger juice, orange zest, pulp and juice plus 2 cups of water or orange juice in a large heavy pan. Add the baking soda. Bring to a boil. Then reduce to medium-low and simmer 20 minutes.

In the meanwhile, boil 1/4th cup water. Add the green tea and turn off heat. Let it steep about 5 minutes. Strain and reserve the tea.

After 20 minutes of simmering, the orange and ginger should have thickened. Add the tea. You will have about 3 cups of liquid now.

To this add the fruit pectin. Bring to a rapid rolling boil, stirring often. Once the mixture is at a vigorous boil, add the sugar. Let it reach a rolling boil again. Stir constantly for another 2-3 minutes.

Turn off heat. Add the food coloring and lemon juice and stir. Leave to cool and then refrigerate. Alternatively, can the marmalade at this point.

You’ll notice in the photo that the marmalade is a bit runny. I only made this yesterday and the fruit pectin box says orange marmalade can take up to 2 weeks to set properly. I guess I’ll have to be patient!

Notes and Tips
Food coloring adds some depth to the marmalade’s color. But by all means leave it out, it will look great just by itself
I think orange zest adds a wonderful flavor and aroma to the marmalade, but it will add some bitterness too. So omit the zest if you don’t want that slight bitterness in the background.
If you want a stronger green tea flavor, leave the tea leaves in or steep longer
I love the ginger in this marmalade. The spiciness from the ginger hits the back of your throat. Add more or less ginger according to taste.
Low sugar pectin requires less sugar than normal pectin, so read the instructions on your fruit pectin box!