Garam Masala Tomato Jam- Perfect for cheese boards

Garam masala tomato jam is a sweet and savory jam, sweetened with coconut sugar, with an underlying earthiness from the cardamom, cinnamon, and cumin of garam masala. Basically the best gift for Christmas. This jam is a perfect accompaniment for your fancy cheese board, is easy to make, and stores perfectly in the freezer for 6 months.

If you have never in your whole life heard of tomato jam, you are not out of touch. I have asked many people, young and old, who have had no idea what I was talking about when I brought up this unique jam. “I’m sorry, did you say tomato JAM?”, is a typical response. Yes, it’s true You can take 3 lbs of tomatoes, cook them down with sugar and spices, and create an interesting and bright condiment that will forever change the way you think about tomatoes.

I first stumbled upon tomato jam actually while doing researching for this blog. As noted in previous posts, I have a wild fascination about past ways of cooking that have been lost to modern society. I dug my head into old house wives cookbooks of Toronto from the late 1800’s. I even went as far as finding the first ever published cookbook in North America, American Cookery . Directions like preparing a turtle for soup and using cockles in a sauce were common material. Amongst this research I found recipes for various jams, tomato being one of them. But y’all (I’m not from the South, I just think my writing voice is) little did I know how interesting and easy to make this jam was.

Garam Masala tomato jam is hella easy

Usually when you prepare tomato products you need to skin and seed each individual tomato. It is this kind of tedious work in the kitchen that I hate. But not with this garam masala tomato jam. You simply rough chop some tomatoes, cutting out the little rough spot from the stem, add them to a pot with sugar and spice, and reduce down it to jammy goodness. Simple procedure. Banging result.

The skin and seeds add texture and nuance to the jam that would otherwise be lacking. Traditionally, tomato jam is made with ginger, cinnamon, and clove with maybe a pinch of red pepper flake. Garam masala is a blend of spices used in Indian cooking containing cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and black pepper. So obviously it is a perfect way to really amp up a tomato jam.

What does it taste like?

Garam masala tomato jam is both savory and sweet. It has the texture of a strawberry jam but the flavor of a sweeter, more robust homemade ketchup. Served with goat cheese or your favorite cheese board is a dream to put it lightly. I plan to smother a chicken with it and slowly roast it in the oven. I’ll let you know how that goes, if I ever come down from heaven.

Ideas for Using garam masala tomato jam:

• accoutrement to a fancy cheese board

• good old bread and butter

• spread on a sandwich as a condiment (bacon, lettuce, avocado, turkey, and tomato jam!)

• as a good old fashioned, homemade holiday gift

• tomato jam and goat cheese tarts

• use as a chutney with these coconut curried lentils

• serve with grilled flank steak

• use as pizza sauce with fresh mozzarella and pesto

• on a smoked salmon and goat cheese crostini

• on a sweet crèpe

• on a savory crèpe

How do you preserve it?

Listen, I have done some canning in my life but I am not an expert. Nor am I very passionate about it. If you are an expert canner, this is a perfect jam to last years stacked in mason jars in your cellar. I, on the other hand, simply filled small mason jars (not to the top) and popped them in the freezer. As needed I plan to take them out for general use. Once they have thawed they will last 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator. I really didn’t want to bother with sanitizing and boiling jars of jam. But you totally can! Just another reason why this fancy recipe is easy AF.

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Recipe

Garam Masala Tomato Jam- Perfect for cheese boards

Ingredients

• 3 pounds/ 1.3kg tomatoes, rough stem section removed and roughly chopped
• 2 cups coconut sugar
• ¼ cup lemon juice (use store bought lemon juice if you plan to can this)
• 1 Tbsp garam masala
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp sea salt
• ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients for the garam masala tomato jam into a large non reactive (I used stainless steel) pot, stirring to combine. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and allow the jam to reduce until it is a relatively thick, jammy consistency. Make sure to stir from time to time to prevent the jam from burning. It will take between 1½ to 2 hours, depending on the kind of tomatoes you have.
2. CANNING METHOD: If you are planning on canning the jam, place the hot jam in sanitized mason jars, making sure the edges are clean. Screw on the lids and rings and place the mason jars in a hot water bath of boiling water for 20 minutes.
3. FREEZING METHOD: If you plan on freezing the jam, allow it to cool to room temperature first. Fill small mason jars or storage containers ¾ of the way full with jam. This prevents the glass from shattering due to expanding frozen jam. Place on the lids and freeze for up to 6 months. The jam will keep thawed in the fridge for about 2 weeks or more.