Walnut Preserves

Ingredients

• 100 Green Walnuts (in shell)
• 3 kg sugar
• 10 gr. cloves
• 10 gr. cinnamon
• 10 gr. cardamon
• 0.5 kg burnt lime (quicklime, or gir)
• 75 gr. alum (sheeb)

Instructions

Instructions

Peel green walnuts with peeler, like you would a potato, and place them in water for 6-7 days, until they will get really dark, almost black. Water must be changed 3-4 times a day. On 6-7th day drain the water and place walnuts in pickling lime (in Armenian it is gir or kir), you need 0.5 kg of this pickling lime (gir) dissolved in 5 liters of
water and strained). Leave walnuts in this solution for 24 hours. Next day wash walnuts thoroughly, pierce each one with fork 3-4 times, rinse them again and place them in boiling alum water (sheeb in Armenian) (75 gr of alum (sheeb) for 5 liters of water). Cook them for 10 minutes, than strain them and place in cold water for 1 hour. Meanwhile
make a syrup with sugar, bring to boil and place the strained walnuts in this syrup, add cinnamon, cloves and cardamon, boil for 5-8 min, remove from heat and leave for 24 hours. Next day bring all to boil again, boil for 5-8 min, and leave again for 24 hours. Repeat that operation once more on the next day, and on 4th day cook until ready (you can
try the walnut to see if it’s ready - it must be soft but crunchy).

NOTE: Whole fresh walnuts have a green skin around them (which is what you have to peel off, and which can stain clothes badly) and are often available at middle eastern stores.

Thanks to Irina Della Rossa who submitted this recipe.

More commonly known as Popoki Muraba in Armeni