Candied Watermelon Rind - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 cups watermelon rind, green parts peeled off and remainder diced (23.2 oz prepared)
2 cups sugar
2 lemons, zest of
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
8 cardamom pods
6 szechuan peppercorns

Preparation

Place watermelon rind in a deep pot and add the sugar.
Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight (at least 4 hours) to macerate.
In the morning, bring to a simmer, stirring to thoroughly dissolve the sugar.
Add the remaining ingredients, cover and simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Cubes will be translucent when done.
Uncover and bring to a boil. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring often, to reduce the syrup to a thick caramel-like liquid.
While still hot, ladle into sterilized jars and process in a waterbath for 30 minutes (the original calls for turning the jars upside down for a minute to create a seal but to correlate with the US safety guidelines I suggest waterbath canning for shelf-storage. If you're keeping it in the fridge, skip this part!).