Unfortunately, physalis in our country is not the most popular plant for growing on the site. Many people don’t even know what it is and what physalis berries are needed for. Although this is a very tasty and healthy plant. Well, those who know what physalis is prepare it for the winter.
How to choose physalis for harvesting for the winter?
In agriculture, it is customary to distinguish two varieties of plants - vegetable and ornamental. Only vegetable physalis is suitable for winter preparations. Before you start harvesting vegetables for the winter, you need to choose the right fruits.
Only ripe and healthy berries are suitable for harvesting. There should be no signs of damage or insect damage. The fruits are harvested after the “flashlight” in which the berry is located begins to dry out and acquire a light yellow color.
In most varieties, the berries hanging on the lower branches ripen first, and then all the rest. You can collect fruits that have fallen to the ground. Only they should be carefully examined. If it has recently rained and the soil is wet, larvae will hatch in them.
Methods for harvesting physalis
Vegetable plant varieties are prepared for the winter in various ways. You can prepare it using canning, freezing in the freezer or drying. Each method has its own characteristics. You need to choose the method of harvesting the plant based on the purpose of using the fruit.
Freezing
The easiest way to harvest for the winter is to simply freeze it in the freezer. To do this, you need to collect the berries, peel them from the “lanterns” and rinse them in cool water. Place on a towel and wait until the peel dries.
Then transfer the berries to a bag or container and put them in the freezer. You only need to take out the amount of workpiece that will be used. Repeated freezing of fruits is undesirable.
Conservation
The second way to prepare for the winter is to preserve them. For marinating you will need the following ingredients:
- ripe physalis berries;
- water (1-2 liters);
- a few clove seeds;
- laurel;
- black peppercorns;
- 500 g sugar;
- 300 ml 6% vinegar.
Pour water into the pan, peel the fruits and wash them. Banks are sterilized. Spices are placed at the bottom of the glass container. The second stage is preparing the brine. To do this, sugar is dissolved in water and vinegar is added. Transfer the fruits into jars and fill with hot brine.Cover with a metal lid and screw on. Turn the jars upside down, wrap them up and let them cool completely.
Another recipe for physalis is with salt. For preparation you need the following ingredients:
- physalis;
- 1.5 liters of water;
- a tablespoon of salt;
- fresh currant leaves;
- laurel;
- dill;
- several cloves of garlic;
- Bell pepper;
- two sprigs of mint.
Place spices, herbs, garlic and pepper on the bottom of the jars. Then lay out the fruits. Fill the jars with brine. Turn the finished preserves over, place them on the floor and wait for them to cool. After the jars become cold, they are lowered into the basement until winter.
The fruits are also canned with other vegetables. And they even make delicious jam from them. Prepare berry jam in the same way as any other.
Drying
The dried fruit tastes like raisins. You can dry the berries in the oven or in the open sun. First you need to select the berries. Then preheat the oven to 40 degrees. Place the fruits on a baking sheet and place it in the oven.
You need to dry for several hours, turning the fruits periodically.
You can also dry the berries in the sun. To do this, the berries are laid out on a baking sheet or newspaper and placed in the sun. You need to constantly move the workpieces in the sun during the day. This drying method takes more than one day. And the taste of fruits dried in different ways is no different.
Dried physalis should be stored in glass containers or containers away from sunlight. If the house has an electric dryer for fruits and berries, you can use it.
Candied fruits are made from berries. To do this, pour hot sugar syrup over the berries, cover with a lid and leave in this form for six hours. After 6 hours, the fruits are placed on the fire and brought to a boil. Drain in a colander.
When the syrup has drained, the candied fruits are laid out on a baking sheet and dried in the oven at a temperature of 40 degrees. Ready-made sweets are stored in glass containers.
