How to Pick Quince (Bihi), Cook It and Make Murabba or Jam

Put one ripe bihi on a shelf and by evening the whole room smells of it, a mix of apple, pear, rose and honey. Bite into it raw, though, and you’ll get something hard, dry and mouth-puckering. That’s the whole trick with quince: pick it by colour and smell, then cook it slowly, and the pale, stubborn fruit turns soft, pink and fragrant. Here’s how to pick quince at the stall, store it through winter, and make murabba or jam that actually sets.

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How to pick quince that’s ripe

A quince is always hard. Even a perfect one feels like a cricket ball, so forget the press test you use on mangoes and peaches, because it tells you nothing here, and go by colour and nose instead.

1. Look for full yellow. Golden or lemon yellow from top to bottom is what you want, because green patches mean the fruit was picked early and will stay sour and woody however long you keep it at home.
2. Smell the stem end. A ripe one smells of flowers even through the skin. No smell, no flavour.
3. Rub the fuzz. Young quinces wear a grey, woolly coat that thins as they ripen. On a ripe one it comes off under your thumb.
4. Check for bruises. It looks tough. It isn’t. Skip fruit with soft brown patches, wet spots or dark sunken marks, because those rot from the inside long before the skin gives it away.
5. Weigh it in your hand. Heavy means juicy.
6. Buy a mix if you’re making murabba. One or two slightly less ripe fruit carry more pectin (the natural setting agent), which helps the syrup thicken.

Quince vs pear? Cousins. Both belong to the rose family and a quince looks like a lumpy, fuzzy pear, but the difference shows the moment you cut one open, because pear flesh is soft and juicy while quince flesh is dense, dry and gritty and stays that way however long you leave it on the shelf.

How to store quince for winter

• Cool room or veranda: lay them out in one layer, not touching, somewhere cool and airy. Fully ripe fruit keeps a few weeks like this; firm, slightly under-ripe fruit often lasts longer.
• Fridge: each fruit loosely wrapped in paper, in the vegetable drawer, for several weeks.
• Keep them apart from other fruit. The perfume and ripening gas can taint apples and hurry bananas along.
• Check weekly. Cook any fruit with a soft spot first, since long-stored quince also starts browning around the core while the skin still looks perfectly fine.
• Freeze: poach peeled slices for a few minutes first. Raw frozen quince turns brown and mushy.

How to prepare and cook quince

Treat it like a butternut squash. A heavy knife and a steady board matter more than speed.

1. Rub off the fuzz under running water. No soap.
2. Peel with a sturdy peeler. Keep the peels and cores if you’re making jam, since they’re rich in pectin.
3. Halve it from top to bottom and then quarter it, keeping your fingers well back, since a knife skids easily on hard, round fruit and this is where most kitchen cuts with quince happen.
4. Cut out the core with a small knife. It’s tough and full of seeds.
5. Drop each piece into lemon water. It browns in minutes.
6. Cook it low and slow: poach, bake or simmer. Quick-cooked quince stays pale and firm; long, gentle cooking turns it soft and pink.

Why pink? Tannins. Quince is full of them, the same mouth-drying compounds you taste in over-brewed chai, and long heat with a little acid slowly changes some of them into red pigments. Two hours in syrup can take quince from cream to deep ruby, with no colour added.

Bihi ka murabba: the method

This makes about 1.3 kg of murabba, enough for two medium jars.

1. Weigh: 1 kg quince (about 4 medium fruit), 750 g sugar, 1 litre water, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 4 green cardamom pods (lightly cracked) and, if you like, 4 cloves.
2. Prepare: peel and core the fruit, then cut each into 6 to 8 thick wedges. Keep them in lemon water while you work.
3. Soften: simmer the wedges in the 1 litre of water for 15 to 20 minutes, until a knife goes in with a little push. Don’t cook them to mush.
4. Add sugar: tip in the sugar and spices and stir gently until it dissolves.
5. Cook slowly: simmer uncovered on the lowest flame for about 1 to 1.5 hours, turning the pieces now and then, until they’re translucent, amber-pink and the syrup is thick. Add a splash of hot water if the syrup thickens before the colour comes.
6. Finish: stir in the lemon juice in the last 10 minutes. It sharpens the taste and helps the colour.
7. Jar: ladle the hot fruit and syrup into clean, dry, sterilised glass jars, cover the fruit completely with syrup, and close.

Keep jars in a cool, dark cupboard. A thick syrup in a clean jar keeps for many months, but once opened it belongs in the fridge, and a wet spoon is the fastest way to grow mould on top. Our amla murabba guide uses the same jar rules, if you’re making both this season.

Quince jam that sets

Quince is one of the easiest fruits for jam, because it’s so high in pectin.

1. Chop 1 kg peeled, cored quince. Tie the peels and cores in a piece of muslin.
2. Simmer the fruit and the muslin bag in 600 ml water for 30 to 40 minutes, until very soft. Squeeze the bag out and discard it.
3. Mash or blend the fruit, then add 750 g sugar and the juice of 1 lemon.
4. Boil hard, stirring, until it reaches setting point: 104 to 105 °C on a thermometer, or a spoonful on a cold saucer wrinkles when you push it after a minute. Watch out, because thick jam spits.
5. Pour into hot, sterilised jars and seal.

Cook it down further, stirring constantly, until it pulls away from the pan in a thick mass, then set it in a lined tray: that’s quince paste, the Spanish membrillo, lovely with cheese.

What quince does for you, honestly

Raw quince is a modest, low-calorie fruit, with roughly 55 kcal per 100 g, a couple of grams of fibre, some vitamin C and potassium and a lot of tannins, and cooking softens it without adding anything much unless you add sugar. Which you usually do.

And that’s the honest catch. Murabba is candied fruit. A single wedge in thick syrup carries much of its weight in sugar, so it counts as a sweet, not as a serving of fruit. Poached quince with little or no sugar, or baked quince, keeps it close to a plain fruit.

With diabetes, cooked quince in a normal portion is fine, like an apple. Murabba is mithai.

Seeds, skin and the one real hazard

The peel is edible when cooked, just tough and fuzzy. Most people bin it. The seeds are another story. Quince seeds (behidana) are soaked whole in water to make a slippery gel called lueab, used in sharbats and traditional preparations. We cover that properly in behidana and lueab gel.

The rule that matters: never crush, grind or chew quince seeds. Like apple seeds and bitter almonds, they contain amygdalin, which releases cyanide when the seed is broken. Soaking whole seeds and straining off the gel is the traditional use. Swallowing one stray whole seed is no drama. Grinding a handful into powder is.

Myths and traditions

Myth: quince murabba is a power tonic for men

No food does that, and there’s nothing in quince that works like a medicine for stamina or fertility. The “male power” label on murabba jars is marketing. What you’re actually eating is fruit in sugar syrup.

Surprising fact: the word marmalade comes from marmelo, Portuguese for quince, because the first marmalades were quince paste, long before oranges took over the name.

Bihi (quince) questions people ask

More seasonal guides: Fruits and Vegetables.