Nature gave man a huge amount of tasty and healthy fruits. Since ancient times, people have used them for food, enjoying a pleasant taste and delicate aroma. However, not all “natural goodies” are familiar to a wide range of consumers. One of these berries is Irga.
Usually it grows in parks and gardens, and is cultivated mainly as an ornamental plant. You can meet her in the forests, but they are not considered irgi to wild-growing shrubs .
It is believed that the shrub, which is also called amelanchier, got its name from the Provencal word, which indicates the honey taste of berries - amelanche. The ripe fruits of the berry really have a pleasant, original, honey taste, and in ripened form they have a dark purple, reaching up to black color with a bluish coating.
The bush bears fruit in July and early August, and it is this time that is most suitable to make harvests from the irgi.
Mistresses growing this shrub in the garden say that all the dishes from the berries are extremely tasty, but they have an original taste. The most common are jam from jirgi, jams and marmalade, jelly, as well as compotes and juices. There are recipes for non-standard dishes and drinks from this berry, for example, kvass.
Irga, being a delicate berry with an unusual taste, allows you to make jam from it unusually tasty. Moreover, she is one of the earliest representatives of berry crops in vegetable gardens.
Jirgi jam has a fairly simple recipe, which is somewhat similar to a similar strawberry recipe. To cook it, you need to take eight hundred grams of sugar per one kilogram of berry. The fruits themselves need to be sorted out, eliminating the missing ones, cleaned from the stalks and washed carefully, being careful not to damage the skin, and then let the water drain. At the same time, sugar must be mixed with half a glass of water (one hundred milliliters) and simmered to such an extent that it is completely dissolved in water. Citric acid is also added to the syrup to taste.
Berries of dillies are dipped in boiling syrup, after which they are boiled for about three minutes. Then the fire must be turned off, and the dish allowed to cool. After this, a similar procedure (bring to a boil, cook for three minutes, let cool) must be repeated two more times.
For the last time, boiling jam from jirgi must be poured into jars sterilized in advance and rolled up. Or, if you are preparing this dessert in order to immediately serve, put in the necessary dishes without canning.
Jars of delicious food are stored at room temperature.
Experienced housewives say that the ratio of sugar to berries can be changed quite freely. If you make jam from jirgi according to the recipe, it will be slightly acidic, and if you want it to be sweet, sugar should take more than a kilogram per kilogram of berries.
Many also advise making combined versions of jams and jams, for example, mix quail with currants (both black and red). The most delicious treat is obtained if you take two kilograms of iraghi, one kilogram of currant and two kilos of sugar.
Irga, the jam from which is really tender and tasty, does not occupy an important place on the tables. Being a healthy and palatable berry, it never became particularly popular. And this is undoubtedly absolutely undeserved. Mistresses who will one day make jam from berry, jam, jam and other dishes, and even those that simply include the fruits in their fresh diet, are unlikely to refuse them in the future.
And jam from this berry, among other things, perfectly helps in the treatment of tonsillitis, colds and other diseases. And of course, it perfectly strengthens the immune system, which is especially important in the cold season.