Ingredients For Setting Chilli Jam

Our answer

Nigella's Chilli Jam (from NIGELLA CHRISTMAS) is a condiment that is set like a jam, using jam sugar that has added pectin. You need to add pectin for the jam to set as the chillies and vinegar do not contain any. You can also buy liquid and powdered pectin to add to regular white sugar if jam sugar is not available.

Agar agar is a setting agent most commonly used as a substitute for gelatine. However we understand that it can be used to set jams, particularly low sugar jams. Unfortunately as we have not used it ourselves we are unable to give specific directions on how much to use. However the jam ingredients include vinegar, which is very acidic and will affect how the agar agar sets. You will need to use more agar agar than for regular liquids and the information on the packaging may give some guidance. We also understand that it is possible to buy powdered and liquid pectin on-line in South Africa and it may be worth looking for this as it can be added to the sugar. Follow the guidelines on the packaging for the amount to use.