Thennelikka/ Honey Gooseberry

Started getting many enquiries asking about the recipe, thought to share it here  Even though I don't write blogs these days. This is a special item you can get it from rural villagers from Wyanad/Munnar, Kerala, India. 

Ingredients

Nellikka or Gooseberry-750g

Jaggery - 750g

Water - 1 and half cup

Honey - 750g, can add less based on your taste

Cinnamon -Paata/ Karugapatta  - 3

Cardamom/ Ellaka- 3

Pepper balls - 5-7

Cloves/ grambu  - 5

Preparation

Wash and dry the gooseberries and make holes with fork, so that you can get sweetness easily. 

Get it steamed for 8- 12 minutes.

Now take some Jaggery and boil with the one and half of water. Filter it and keep it aside

Grind/ Power  the above mentioned spices, ie: Cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, cloves, etc 

Now keep a dry pan and add the filterred jaggery and keep in low flame. Add gooseberries and powdered spices and mix it well. Now close it with a lid and give frequent stirs for 10 to 15 minutes. You can see the colour gets changing to browish. Now open and cook in low flame until it gets the close brownish colour of Jaggery. The correct form of consistancy is sticky fluid 

Once done. keep it aside to get it cool.

Now add the honey. And serve it after 3 or 4 days. 

For preservation: Recommending to store in glass jars that too on an air tight containers.

Keep it outside for 2 or 3 days and you cam keep in refrigerator for long-lasting.

Simple recipe:

Wash the gooseberries. Drain and pat dry. They should not be of any moisture so you can leave them to air dry for 20-30 minutes or dry it with a cloth or tissue.

Using a clean & dry chopping board & knife cut the gooseberries into 3-4small pieces. Omit the seeds.

Layer the glass jar with gooseberries and honey. Drizzle a few strands of saffron if needed. Do not fill the jar up to the brim as the gooseberries will slowly begin to release their juices and the jar will overflow. So fill it up 3/4th full.

Cover with a well fitting lid and keep in a cool and dry place of your kitchen. The honey will get diluted with the juices from the gooseberries but that's okay. Enjoy some delicious gooseberry chunks every day!