Gooseberry Compote / Nellikai Paagu / Usurikai Paakam

A bite into a raw gooseberry will take you to hell first and then show you heaven !! 

Yup the sourness would bring goosebumbs and the facial expression would turn funny and then if you try to have a sip of water, it would show you the sweetness of the heaven ;) 

This fruit reminds me of my childhood days at my grandma's place. They had a big tree and all the kids at home used to enjoy throwing rocks at the berries and collecting as many or even more than what the little hands could hold. We used to eat it along with salt and chilly powder!! :) Yummmmm. The expressions on the faces and the taste can never be forgotten :)

My Aunt used to make this compote back then and I was the only soul at home who loved it and would finish the entire bottle. A bottle of gooseberry compote became the return gift from my aunt's place every holidays :) 

 

This time I happened to get some gooseberries from Hyderabad and here comes my compote reminding me the good old days :)

The berries when cooked in sugar gives you a very distinctive sweet and sour taste and the soft flesh makes it all the more delicious.

All thanks and credits to the aunt who shared the recipe with me and the aunt who lovingly gave me these berries.

Ingredients:

Small Gooseberry - 2 cup

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - 2 cups

Step 1: Wash and pat dry the gooseberries. They should be completely dry before making the compote.

Step 2: Measure and take the sugar in a pan. 

Step 3: Add water to it and stir well.

Step 4: Stir until sugar completely dissolves and the syrup starts to boil. 

Step 5: Drop in the gooseberries and simmer the stove completely. Let this boil in the syrup until they are well cooked and soft. Meanwhile the syrup would have become thick as well.

Step 6: Just in case the berries get cooked well but the syrup is still not thick or orange in color, strain and remove all the gooseberries from the pan and allow the syrup to boil for some more time until it thickens and the color changes to orange. The color change happens due to the acidity of the gooseberries. 

Step 7: Add the gooseberries back to the syrup and once it comes to room temperature, store them in sterilized bottles.

Step 8: Store them in the fridge and use for 6 months. See to that the syrup is coating the fruit completely and is until the top of the bottle. 

Enjoy eating as it is or have them with chapathi :)

Written by: Nithya
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