Tart thick homemade pomegranate molasses to add a special flavorful touch to your meals! Mix it into a dressing, use it as a meat glaze, add it to a stew. Play with it and use the molasses as a secret ingredient in your food!
If you haven't done that yet, prepare your pomegranate juice first. I like mine without seeds, but if you don't mind the taste of seeds in the pomegranate juice, then just blend them to a juice and strain the bits.
Keep a cooking pot ready and pour the juice into it. Keep on the heat.
At this point you mix in the sugar or lemon juice, it's optional.
Bring the whole mix to a rolling boil. Then reduce the heat to a simmer
Now all you need to do is to slowly reduce the pomegranate juice to a thick molasses. It needs to cook slowly down or else it will burn on or the taste will be compromised.
The cooking down can take about 60-90 minutes. Stir at times and keep an eye on the thick syrup.
The molasses is ready when it has thickened totally as seen in my pictures. The molasses will look more liquid when cooking hot, so you can do a test by dripping some into a cold plate or a glass with cold water. That way you will know the consistency quickly and you can decide if you want to bottle it up or let it cook and reduce further. You can choose how thick you want your fruit molasses, it's up to you but don't over do it for obvious reasons.
Fill the molasses into a clean and sterilized jar. Fill it up to the rim, close with the clean lid well and turn upside down to create a vacuum. Leave it that way for 24 hours.
Store in a cool and dry place until further use. Keep in the fridge once opened. Don't forget to label with the date and the contents.
Notes
You can add sugar and lemon juice, it's completely optional. I prefer it without the sugar because I use my pomegranate molasses mainly in savory meals. The aim is to season food with the molasses and it should be rather tart. If you want it tarter, then add the lemon juice.