Sweet and spicy tomato carrot jam

This is a great way to celebrate the tomato and red carrot season of the year. All you need is a kg of tomato and half kg of carrots. This jam/preserve can be used for sandwiches, chappathis and even dosas. It has that sweet and spiced tangy taste. I would say the tangy taste is very subtle in this jam. Easy to make and easy to taste.

Following is the recipe for the same
Ingredients 
Tomatoes - 1 kg ( remove the skin and puree - would come up to 4 cups)
Red carrots - 1/2 kg ( peel and finely chopped - would come upto 2 cups)
Sugar - 3 cups
Spices- cloves, cardamon, cinnamon , pepper corns, star anise.


Method
Mix the tomato puree/paste and the finely diced carrots( I used food processor) in a wide thick bottom pan. Sprinkle the sugar and mix well. Keep it on flame and keep stirring it. Be very careful as it releases a lots of water, hence bubbles up a lot. Add in the spices, to your level of taste, and you have the option to omit if you don't like any of all of the spices. But adding spices gives it a distinct taste, flavor and aroma.
Keep stirring until the jam thickens and store in sterilized jar while it is still hot. Close the jar once the content is cooled.

Your jam is ready!!!!

Hazelnut butter

I  bought hazelnuts and hazelnut oil to make home made nutella (I dont buy Nutella), I did hazelnut cupcakes too with hazelnut oil and this time I tried hazelnut butter. You can avoid hazelnut oil or use any non flavour oil to make this butter. It super easy too, hardly take 10 mins and a very healthy butter is ready as a spread!

Ingredients
Hazelnuts - 100 gms
Hazel nut oil - 1 - 2 tspn

Honey - as required

Vanilla pod - half of  pod

Method
Take a thick bottom pan and dry roast the nuts for sometime, just enough to heat it and then put it in a mixie jar or a blender or a food processor. Pulse it until it starts releasing oil. Scrape in the vanilla pod and also add the oil. Finally add honey as a sweetener. If you want exclusive hazelnut butter stop with oil , don't add vanilla or honey :). If you add cocoa or scraped chocolate nd replace honey with sugar you get nutella.

And yea 'keep refrigerated'
So try and enjoy!!