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

Transcript

Quince: From Shelf to Sweet

Imagine a single golden fruit on a shelf, filling the room with a scent that’s part apple, part rose, part honey. That's quince, and today I’ll show you how to pick, store and turn it into a pink, fragrant jam or murabba.

At a Glance

Quince goes by many names, bihi, behi, safarjal, grown across Balochistan to Kashmir. It arrives from late September to December, and a ripe one is all golden yellow, fragrant and firm.

Picking Ripe Quince

Quince stays hard, so don’t press it like a mango. Look for a uniform golden yellow from top to bottom; green spots mean it’s not ready. Smell the stem end, if you catch a floral aroma, it’s ripe. Lightly rub the fuzzy skin; the fuzz should come off easily. Skip any with soft brown patches or dark sunken marks.

Storing Quince for Winter

Lay the fruit in a single layer on a cool, airy spot like a verandah; a few weeks will keep them fresh. In the fridge, wrap each loosely in paper and store in the vegetable drawer for several weeks. Keep them away from apples or bananas, because their ripening gases can affect each other. Check weekly and use any that develop a soft spot first.

Preparing and Cooking Quince

Rinse the quince under running water and rub off the grey fuzz, no soap needed. Peel it with a sturdy peeler, and if you’re making jam, set the peels and cores aside for extra pectin. Cut the fruit from top to bottom, then quarter it, keeping your fingers back because the knife can slip on the hard flesh. Remove the tough, seed-filled core with a small knife.

Cooking Tip

The longer and slower you cook it, the pinker it gets. No food colour needed.

Making Quince Murabba

For about a kilo of quince, roughly four medium fruits, measure out 750 grams of sugar, a litre of water, two tablespoons of lemon juice and a few green cardamom pods. Peel, core and cut the fruit into thick wedges, keeping them in lemon water while you work. Simmer the wedges in the water for fifteen to twenty minutes until a knife slides in with a gentle push. Then stir in the sugar and spices, letting everything dissolve and thicken.

Nutritional Notes

Raw quince is low-calorie, with modest fibre, some vitamin C and potassium, and a lot of tannins. Cooking softens it without adding much unless you add sugar, which most people do. Remember, murabba is essentially candied fruit, a single syrup-soaked wedge carries a lot of sugar, so treat it as a sweet, not a fruit serving.

Seeds and Safety

When cooked, the peel becomes edible, though many people discard it. The seeds are a different story; they contain amygdalin, which can release cyanide if the seed is crushed or chewed. Traditional use involves soaking whole seeds in water to extract a gelatinous lueab, then straining it out. Never grind or chew the seeds.

Traditional View

In Unani texts, safarjal is described as cold and dry, a binding fruit used for a weak stomach and loose motions. Its astringent tannins give it that gentle binding quality. Some narrations even mention it for easing the heart, but those chains are considered weak, so it’s more a tradition than a proven health claim.

Safety Tips

Never crush or grind quince seeds. If you have diabetes, treat murabba and jam as sweets and keep portions small. Babies under one year can have plain, cooked quince purée without sugar, but avoid murabba or jam. Because quince is gently binding, eating a lot while constipated might worsen things. If you’re on a potassium-restricted kidney diet, count it like any other fruit, and check with your pharmacist about any medication timing.

Thanks for Watching

If you’d like the full details, head over to thecareonline.com, and remember this isn’t medical advice, just a tasty kitchen adventure.