First cut off both the sides of the orange to make it easy to peel.
Then with a serrated knife carefully cut the skin along the length with out cutting the fruit.
Make 5 cuts for an orange.
Carefully remove the peel from the fruit. You will end up with 5 segments in each orange.
In a pan add water and the peel and let it boil for 10 minutes. This is to soften the peel and remove the bitterness. Some blogs suggested boiling three times. But I did it only once.
Now drain water and remove the peels. Allow them to cool down.
Slice each segment into two for easy handling.
With a sharp knife, remove the white coloured pith from the peel.
In a pan add sugar and water and bring it to boil.
Add the peels and reduce flame to medium low.
Cover and cook the peels for 30-45 minutes or until the peels look shiny and glossy.
Remove the peels and place them on a wire rack.
Allow it to dry for 6-8 hours. They will be very sticky. So you need to dry it. The blogs I read suggested drying the peels for 24 hours. But as Madurai climate is hot, the process of drying took very little time. The peels need to be little sticky so that the coating sticks to it.
Take granulated sugar in a bowl, roll each peel in the sugar so that it coats the peel.
Dry it again over night to completely dry.
Store in air tight box and use as needed. This measurement gives approximately 1 cup of chopped candied peel.
