Crystallized Ginger| Candied Ginger| Preserved Ginger is nothing but the ginger is cooked in sugar syrup and preserved. It is generally used in Christmas Cakes, Cookies, Desserts especially in Christmas Season. When i prepared my White Fruit Cake i have purchased from shop. From that day i was planning to try out this recipe after 3 years i tried the recipe and very happy with the outcome.

Apart from that this could be eaten as a digestive after meal which aids digestion. As its shelf life is more you could store it in a airtight container and eat at the time when you crave for some sweets.

Candied Ginger Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
Ginger- 1 and 1/2 cups
Sugar- 1 and 1/2 cups+ 1/4 cup

Crystallized Ginger recipe

PROCEDURE:
  • If you want thin pieces or strips of candied ginger just boil the ginger for 20 minutes in a pan and boil the sugar syrup in pan and follow the same procedure.
  • If you wish to make candied ginger with less heat after boiling  change the water twice and thrice to reduce the heat.
  • Select tender ginger with less fiber. Peel and cut the ginger pieces into thick cubes or thick roundels.
  • I would like to make thick pieces of candied ginger like thick store bought ones so i pressure cooked the ginger for 4-5 whistles with enough water to soften the ginger.
  • Then i removed the cooked water totally and added sugar and half a cup of fresh water.(I changed the pot initially and then transferred to pressure pan as i was doing first time. You proceed inside the pressure pan no need to change the vessel)
  • Once the sugar melted, close with a lid pressure cook for 3 whistles.
  • Once the pressure releases, you could see slightly transparent ginger pieces in the sugar syrup.
  • Turn on the heat and cook the syrup to reduce it until turns thick and forms strings when drop from ladle.
  • Stop cooking at this point because the syrup may caramelize at any point and darken the syrup.
  • Allow the mixture to cool for five minutes.
  • Spread sugar on a plate.
  • Now the syrup slightly starts to crystallize so before that(when the ginger is sticky) using a spoon or fork lift the ginger pieces from syrup and roll it over the sugar to get crystallized ginger.
  • Once the pieces are nicely coated allow to cool and store them on an airtight container.
  •  If you want non-crystallized candied ginger just remove the ginger from the syrup and allow to cool.
How to make Candied Ginger