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Sea Moss Jellies

Sea Moss Jellies is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe from the 1860s for a classic dessert of jellies made from agar-agar extracted with seaweed and boiled with simple syrup. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Anglo-Indian version of: Sea Moss Jellies.

prep time

10 minutes

cook time

40 minutes

Total Time:

50 minutes

Additional Time:

(+3 1/3 days soaking/chilling)

Serves:

6

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : Wild FoodVegan RecipesDessert RecipesFusion RecipesBritish Recipes



This is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe redacted from the volume THE INDIAN COOKERY BOOK: A Practical Handbook to The Kitchen in India (author unknown), published by: WYMAN & CO., HARE STREET CALCUTTA circa 1869. The recipe comes at the end of the section on PORTUGUESE CURRY (VINDALOO OR BINDALOO), so this is a Vindaloo curry paste or a curry paste from Goa.

Original Recipe


367.—Ceylon Moss, Seaweed, and Iceland Moss Preserves


Steep the moss or weed for two or three days in fresh water, changing the water two or three times a
day; wash it well once before boiling it; to every seer or two pounds of the weed add a wineglassful
of the best vinegar; allow it to simmer over a gentle fire until it thickens, so as to congeal on a glass;
then strain the moss or weed through a towel, pour the liquid into clarified sugar or syrup, and boil
them together for half an hour; pour the jelly into large wide dishes, and when quite cold cut it into
cakes. If desired, the jelly may be coloured or tinted with cochineal.

Modern Redaction



In essence, this is a way of extracting agar-agar from dried seaweed (irish moss/celylon moss [Chondrus crispus/Gracilaria lichenoides]) with Gracilaria lichenoides being the species native to the Bay of Bengal.

Ingredients:


500g dried Ceylon moss (Gracilaria lichenoides)
5 tbsp cider vinegar
250ml (1 cup) simple syrup

Method:

Place the dried seaweed in a bowl and cover with water. Set aside for two days to re-hydrate and change the water three times a day, every day.

Transfer to a small pan, add the vinegar and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over a gentle heat until the liquid thickens sufficiently to congeal on a cold plate.

Turn into a strainer and allow the liquid to drip into a bowl. Press down on the seaweed with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible.

Combine the liquid in a pan with the simple syrup, bring to a boil and continue boiling for 30 minutes. Pour the resultant jelly into greased heat-proof bowls. Transfer to the refrigerator and allow to set over night.

The following day, unmould the jelly, cut into cubes and serve.

Find more Victorian Recipes Here and more Curry Recipes Here. For the original version of The Indian Cookery book see my The Indian Cookery Book main page.