Amla in Honey Recipe with step by step pictures. Consuming amla with honey daily has a lot of health benefits, popular ones are Amla Murabba . It helps to treat anemia and gives stamina. In this blog post, you will see how to preserve amla in honey naturally with step by step pictures and video.
Amla in Honey
This was one of the most requested recipe in this blog after I posted Amla Murabba recipe. The reason I was stayed away from this is, it is quite an easy recipe and it just involves soaking the amla in honey and nothing more complicated than that. But yesterday when I went through my list of do things, this recipe stood a little high. And luckily i had few amla and a bottle of honey on hand, so immediately tried it.
Jump to:
This is such a healthy recipe, you should definitely try it. Make a big batch of it and give to your kiddos and family daily. It will make such a huge difference.I had saffron on hand so i added few here, but it is entirely optional. And the honey which i added is not your store bought stuff, it is pure mountain honey which was given to my mother by her friend. So you wont find it too dark in colour. You can use regular honey in this recipe.
About Amla in Honey
As you all know amla is rich in vitamins and many minerals. It is nutritious for your body, skin, hair. It is a great food to consume on a daily basis. But finding fresh amla when they are out of season can be a struggle. So it is convenient to preserve them when they are in season. One of the healthy way of preserving amla is in honey.
I have made Amla candy, Amla Murabba which are methods of preserving amla in sugar. This is a healthy version of preserving gooseberry in honey. Honey is said to be natural preserve agent.
Similar Recipes,
Ingredients for Amla in Honey
Gooseberry - choose large variety of gooseberry. Make sure it is fresh and free of bruises. I like to wash, dry the amla with a cloth. Cut them into small pieces, dry them under sun for 2 to 3 hours to remove the excess moisture from them. If you don't have access to sun, you can air dry it for 4 hours.
Saffron - this is optional, but adds so much flavour to the amla in honey.
Honey - use fresh pure honey for this recipe, which adds health benefits.
Important Points before Making this
There are few points which you should read before making this recipe.
this is not amla murabba - Amla in honey is not same as Thean nelli or amla murabba. Amla murabba is made using sugar or jaggery. This method involves preserving raw gooseberry in honey. So the texture will be slightly different. Amla in honey once soaked tends to get chewy and slightly hard because the moisture from the gooseberry will be mixed with the honey. So it wont be soft as amla murabba. But this is a healthy option.
Dry amla properly - since we are preserving fresh amla, it is important to dry it completely before soaking in honey. I like to wash, dry the amla with a cloth. Cut them into small pieces, dry them under sun for 2 to 3 hours to remove the excess moisture from them. If you don't have access to sun, you can air dry it for 4 hours.
Honey - choose best high quality honey which adds to the health benefits. Make sure the whole amla is submerged in honey since it is the preservant.
Flavourings - you can use dry ginger, turmeric, cardamom and black pepper while making this.
How to make Amla in Honey
Preparing Amla - Wash and pat dry the gooseberries. Now cut them into small wedges and discard the seeds. Allow the gooseberry to air dry or sun dry for few hours. There shouldn't be any moisture in them.
Assembing - Take a clean and air tight jar, put few pieces of gooseberry in the bottom of the jar. Add some saffron strands on top and cover that with honey. Now put few more pieces of gooseberry and add some more saffron strands, Cover the entire thing with honey, don't fill too much, since it will expand.
Preserving - You can cover this with a cheese cloth and keep it under sunlight. Clamp a lid and store it for 2 days at room temp so it gets soaked and for better taste. After 2 days, you can transfer this to fridge for longer and better storage.
How to Make Amla in Honey (Stepwise Pictures)
 |
| Soak amla in water for 30 mins. |
 |
| Remove them from water and dry them |
 |
| Dry them using a paper towel |
 |
| All dried |
 |
| Cut them into wedges, and deseed them. Allow the gooseberry to air dry or sun dry for few hours. There shouldn't be any moisture in them. |
|
| You will need these |
 |
| Lovely fresh mountain honey gifted from my mom's friend |
 |
| Take a clean jar |
 |
| Add few amla pieces in the bottom |
 |
| Sprinkle half of the saffron. You can add in cardamom and crushed peppercorns |
 |
| Cover it with honey |
 |
| Like this |
 |
| Add few more amla pieces |
 |
| Sprinkle saffron |
 |
| Cover again with honey |
 |
| Cover till top..Now you can cover this with cheesecloth and keep it under sunlight for 2 days. if you want to store this for a long time..(I RECOMMEND THIS) |
 |
| Close with a lid. After 2 days, you can transfer this to fridge for longer and better storage. |
 |
| enjoy |
Expert Tips
- Always use a clean, dry jar and spoons while handling this.
- After few hours the honey will become watery, This is the water from the gooseberry leaching out. Not to worry about it.
- Leave it to soak atleast for 5 to 8 days before consuming so it gets time to soak and become soft.
- You can add cardamom powder or any spices that you like.
- Daily have a piece of gooseberry along with a spoonful of honey.
- Once all the gooseberry gets over, you can add some more cut up gooseberries in the same pot and pour some more honey and let the process get going.
Serving & Storage
Daily have a piece of gooseberry along with a spoonful of honey. Store this amla in honey in fridge for longer and better storage.
More Gooseberry Recipes to Try
📖 Recipe Card
Amla in Honey Recipe
Equipment
- Knife and Cutting Board
- Sterlized glass bottle
Ingredients
- 10 large Gooseberry | Amla
- ⅛ tsp Saffron
- 1 cup Honey or as needed
- ½ tsp Black pepper Crushed optional
- 1 no Cardamom Crushed optional
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry the gooseberries. Now cut them into small wedges and discard the seeds. Allow the gooseberry to air dry or sun dry for few hours. There shouldn't be any moisture in them.
- Take a clean and air tight jar, put few pieces of gooseberry in the bottom of the jar. Add some saffron strands on top and cover that with honey. Now put few more pieces of gooseberry and add some more saffron strands, Cover the entire thing with honey, don't fill too much, since it will expand and leave out some water.
- You can cover this with a cheese cloth and keep it under sunlight for a day. Clamp a lid and store it for 2 days so the amla can soak well before consuming.
- After 2 days, you can transfer this to fridge for longer and better storage.
Notes
- Always use a clean, dry jar and spoons while handling this.
- After few hours the honey will become watery, This is the water from the gooseberry leaching out. Not to worry about it.
- Leave it to soak atleast for 5 to 8 days before consuming so it gets time to soak and become soft.
- You can add cardamom powder or any spices that you like.
- Daily have a piece of gooseberry along with a spoonful of honey.
- Once all the gooseberry gets over, you can add some more cut up gooseberries in the same pot and pour some more honey and let the process get going.
Nutrition
If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can.
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook,Pinterest ,Youtube for more Yummy Tummy inspiration.
Veena Theagarajan
I must try this homemade honey Amla
Raks anand
I love this a lot, but never knew the recipe, thanks a lot for sharing 🙂
Banu
I did this recipe on Saturday but the honey turn watery today (Monday) shud I keep it in the fridge
Coral Crue
wow, that's a great recipe
Hamaree Rasoi
Very healthy and useful preparation.
Deepa
Venkatramanan M
Wow. This is new. Is this what they call then nelli? I thought it was with sugar syrup. Anyways. Thanks for the recipe.
Swati Gupta
I tried this recipe 12 days back. But it has turned bad. A white layer of fungus deposited above them. Where did i go wrong?
Amit chauhan
Skuch din baad safed parat Kyo aa gayi
Geetha Venkat
Wow nice. Is this what you call then nelli? I thought it was made with sugar syrup. Anyways thanks for the recipe.
Geetha Venkat
Wow nice. Is this then nelli? I thought you make it with sugar syrup. Anyway thanks for the recipe.
Shrikant
Thankyou very much.
Shirley Tay
Awesome tutorial, Aarthi! Would love to try gooseberries some day 🙂
Vanita A
Hi. Aarthi Hw are u doing? Hws ur health?. for the Honey nellikai. which is healthy. Will try this. Thks for the post once again. 😀
Madhu
Should we store it outside or refrigerate?
Aarthi
you can keep outside
Saritha K
I tried this recipe after 6th day of soaking, when I opened the bottle white layer was seen on top. I keep the bottle outside in kitchen. Can you please tell me is this expected or I did something wrong
Aarthi
@Saritha K I think there must be some moisture in the bottle. Always use dry bottle and spoon when handling.
Anonymous
HELP ME...Hi First of all ThAnks for the recipe..And I have a prob "I prepared the amla and honey as u said but after 20 days the pieces are not soft nor too sweet,they just shrinked"
*I didnt keep in sun as it is heavily raining here..
*I cut them into much smaller pieces so that it would soak well,but it didn't 🙁
Soundri Shobi
hello madam,
i have one doubt,...i like to prepare this receipe but i would like to fill full size amla in the honey bottle. it is possible??
Anonymous
How long will it stay good in the pantry?
Aarthi
@AnonymousIt will stay for 2 to 3 weeks. But you can store in fridge if you want to store for a longer time.
Anonymous
Thank u..we like our murabba chatpata, can I add a pinch of salt, pepper & lemon juice to it.
Anonymous
I tried but the amla shrinks . I have tried then nelli before but they were soft and sweet. This is very hard now. Its 3weeks now.
Aarthi
@AnonymousThis is homemade.Storebought nelli, they wont soak it in honey, they soak it in sugar. and it has preservatives too..
Anonymous
Hello madam, I've a doubt. can we use boiled gooseberries to make it more soft ?
Anonymous
Hello madam,Can we use boiled gooseberries to make it soft?
Nishi
@Anonymous
Your recipe is very easy. Thanks for posting.
I tried making honey amla but after 5 days white foam layer was seen on top and fermented smell is coming. I used dry bottle only. Can you guide me about this.
Vetri
I also faced the same issue.. white foam and fermented smell... any info on this would be nice.. thus happened after the amla was kept for a week in the sun then drained and put in fresh bottle and new honey poured on top...
Aarthi
@NishieI am not sure, may be some kind of contamination has happened. next time store it in fridge
Anonymous
I used wet amlas instead of dry.
Is there any problem with that.?
Aarthi
@AnonymousYes it will spoil the whole thing, Store this in fridge
Rachel Pereira
Thank u for ua recipe...bt should we soak the gooseberries in warm or cold water
Aarthi
@Rachel Pereiracold water
Anonymous
Hai U explained clearly with photos.....nice recipe...
SS Rekha
Hi.. Thanks for the recipe! I've just done the soaking. hope it turns out well !!!
Anonymous
thanks for the fine recipe..I had a small doubt. u mentioned to cover the bottle with cheese cloth .. what it exactly means? Is it necessary?
Aarthi
@Anonymousit helps in easy soaking process. You can just cover it with lid too.
jaspreet singh
great repice thanks for sharing
new year 2016
Firoz Muhammed
I think Aarthi missed the second part of the process making the goosbery soft once its shrunk. For this after 20 days the shrunk gooseberys must be taken out n put in another vessel with another 250gm honey. This should be kept for 3- 4 months. Then u will get shop like soft succulent gooseberys filled with honey.
And the initial honey n water(oozed from goosebery) mixture cud be used as wine too
Tane
I tried to follow recipe and kept at room temperature, which is around 80 F. It started to ferment after 2 days. I have now moved to the frig. I used fresh alma that had been cut into pieces to remove the seed. Most of the moisture was from the fruit. I did also use saffron. Will this still be safe to eat?
KELAVATHI HARI
THANK U SO MUCH, I GOT EXCELLENT & EASY METHOD TO PREPARE MURABBA. THANK U SO MUCH
Matin
CAN i reuse the honey for next recipe,as original honey is very costly in UAE.
Aarthi
yes u can use it, when the amla gets over, add more amla and use it
poorni
Whether can we boil and soak
Aarthi
yes u can boil it dry it and then soak it
Ravitha
Hi after soaking in honey ....v have to keep in fridge or outside ?
Aysha
Hai, a small doubt, wen we left it for soaking, shud we refrigirate it or simply can leave outside anywer???
Aarthi
Leave it at room temparature
sankri
Hello, I followed this process and left it at room temperature but my gooseberries have fermented in honey. Why? What should I do to prevent it in future?
Ans is it safe to still eat it?
Kamakya
Yeah, I am also facing the same issue. Used a dry bottle. Cut the raw amla into pieces, kept the bottle covered by a thin cloth in sun for 3 days. after that, the mixture is watery and smells fermented. Is it safe to eat now? What are we missing in your steps? .
Dhivya
I just steamed the amla and kept on honey . After 3-4 days I started using on 6 th day it started bubbling on TOP . No weird smell . Can I use it still ? Or to refrigerate?
shivaram
i did as recommended. there is a small circle of green floating , appears to be fungus.. is this still edible ?