Since ancient times, honey was made from watermelons in Central Asia. Over time, they began to cook it on the Don. Watermelon honey It is obtained by boiling watermelon juice 5-6 times, and allows you to preserve all the beneficial properties of watermelon berries for the winter. Use watermelon nardek when proper nutrition, allergies to bee honey, in children and dietary nutrition. The calorie content of honey is low - a little more than 110 calories per 100 grams, so it is indicated for weight loss. In addition, honey is useful for bronchitis and laryngitis, increases hemoglobin, improves immunity, is useful for tuberculosis and oncological diseases.

Watermelon honey nardek recipe with photo

The result is a small amount of sweet and fragrant honey. It goes well with pastries, cheesecakes, pancakes and pancakes. To quench your thirst, you can dilute honey with water. Unlike bee honey You can safely add nardek to the dough as a sweetener. The famous Sarepta gingerbreads are baked from this honey. Watermelon sweetness good to add to children's tea, morning porridge and cottage cheese.

As honey cools, it becomes thicker. Undercooked honey can start to sparkle. Overcooked honey is bitter. Be guided by the thickness of the cooled honey.

Large amounts of honey can cause digestive problems.

If you are not allergic to watermelon, then you can safely use watermelon honey.

A small amount of honey can be consumed by people with diabetes (check with your doctor about the dosage).

Properties of nardek (watermelon honey)

How much does nardek (watermelon honey) cost (average price for 1 jar)?

Moscow and Moscow region.

The most fragrant watermelon honey or nardek, which is brewed from the juice of a fully ripened striped berry, is one of the many inventions of the cuisine of Central Asia, which was later adopted by the Don Cossacks. Over time, all melon growers began to prepare nardek (watermelon honey), since preserving the harvest until the new season was a guarantee of a well-fed life. big family. And today it is brewed in Central Asia, in the south of Russia, as well as in the Lower Volga region.

A distinctive feature of nardek (watermelon honey) is that it is prepared without adding sugar. By the way, close relatives of this product are considered to be bekmes (grape honey), irchal (bekmes, but with berries), and also cue (honey made from fruits with added sugar). The word “nardek” itself is characterized by Turkish origin, where “nardak” means syrup made from pomegranate juice.

The modern use of nardek (watermelon honey) is quite extensive - this product is usually used as a delicious dessert, served with hot drinks instead of jam or preserves. In Cossack villages, for example, they pour nardek (watermelon honey) over pancakes, pancakes, casseroles, crumpets, and often eat it with a piece fresh bread. In addition, this thick syrup can be used as a filling when baking pies, cheesecakes, cookies, or candied watermelon can be made from it.

Traditionally, nardek (watermelon honey) in Cossack villages was prepared in late autumn - a time when the main harvest of watermelons was already sold out. From small pot-bellied berries, which were cut in half, the juicy pulp was taken out with spoons and passed through a fine hair sieve. Received watermelon juice poured into a large cast-iron vat, which was placed on open fire. This juice had to be boiled until it turned into a thick brown syrup with a characteristic watermelon aroma.

Moreover, interestingly, the thickness of nardek (watermelon honey) was determined by the duration of boiling: as a rule, the consistency of the syrup was similar to young honey. Finished product then poured into glass jars and sealed for the winter or stored in clay pots in a cool basement.

The calorie content of nardek (watermelon honey), surprisingly, is low, even though it contains up to 60% sugar. Wherein nutritional value the product is only 110 kcal, which are present in 100 grams of this aromatic dessert. That is why the use of nardek is recommended even for patients with diabetes. In addition, watermelon honey helps with colds - you can gargle with it when you have a sore throat.

Calorie content of nardek (watermelon honey) 110 kcal

Energy value of nardek (watermelon honey) (Ratio of proteins, fats, carbohydrates - bju).

Watermelon honey has been known since the time of Empress Elizabeth. Tasty and healthy, it has rightfully won popular love. In those days, it was prepared by evaporation in open, summer ovens or adobes. Modern recipe practically no different from the old way, except that it took a little less time to prepare honey.

Watermelon honey

Recipe

To make watermelon honey, you will need the ripest and sweetest berries. The sweeter they are, the thicker and tastier the jam will be. You also need to prepare the following items:

• a spacious saucepan or basin;
• gauze;
• sieve;
• masher;
• wooden spoon.

Recipe for making watermelon honey:

1. Wash the watermelons thoroughly under running water and place them on a towel to remove any remaining water.
2. Cut the fruits into 4 parts and place them in a saucepan, allowing the juice to flow freely into it.
3. Using a wooden spoon, separate the pulp from the crust and pass it through a sieve, chopping and removing the seeds at the same time.
4. Squeeze the resulting mass through a gauze cloth folded several times, pouring the resulting juice into a cooking pan.
5. Bring the juice to a boil, stirring continuously with a spoon, and remove from heat.
6. To ensure that watermelon honey, or as it is also called - nardek, remains transparent, remove the foam with a slotted spoon.
7. Strain the juice through cheesecloth.
8. Place the pan on the heat again and cook over low heat until done.

Advice! During the process of boiling watermelon juice, it is necessary to periodically remove the foam with a slotted spoon. Subject to this condition the product will be transparent and viscous.

How to check the readiness of honey?

During the boiling process, the volume of juice decreases by 5-7 times. As soon as it starts to thicken, you need to drop a little juice onto the smooth flat surface of the plate and tilt it a little. If the drop does not spread, but retains its shape, then it is time to remove the jam from the heat - the honey is ready.

You can also determine readiness by checking the stream of juice for stringiness. If it flows continuously, then the honey needs to be boiled a little more. And if it has thickened so much that it begins to interrupt, then you can’t hesitate! The pan must be removed from the stove immediately!

After cooling, the consistency of watermelon honey should resemble that of bees. If it turns out to be too liquid, then re-cooking will correct the situation.

Advice! To avoid burning of honey, it is necessary to continuously stir it during the cooking process. A wooden spoon or spatula is most suitable for this role.

How to store?

The finished watermelon honey is transferred into glass jars sterilized in a water bath. Tightness is ensured by screwing caps or seaming using a special machine.

The jars should be stored out of reach of light and in a cool place. Under these conditions, watermelon honey can be stored for several months.

Interesting fact! Watermelon honey can be stored for a long time and rarely spoils, since the sugars contained in the juice act as a preservative, preventing fermentation.

Basic mistakes made when cooking

During the preparation process, sometimes important points are missed, the consequence of which is a poor-quality final product.

Main mistakes:

• the juice was overcooked or undercooked;
• the honey burned during the cooking process because it was not stirred;
• The juice was squeezed out poorly and the honey contains seeds and dense lumps.

Many of these errors can be corrected. For example, strain the juice through a sieve if it contains seeds, or cook if the consistency is too liquid.

Burnt honey, in most cases, turns out to be spoiled, because even if you pour it and strain it, the bitter taste will not go away and all you have to do is throw the product away.

Advice! For cooking, it is better to take dishes with a thick bottom. Then the juice won't burn.

What are the benefits of watermelon honey?

Nardek - watermelon honey - is famous for its useful qualities. The peoples of Central Asia have long known about its medicinal properties and successfully use it instead of many drugs.
Watermelon honey is used in the treatment of the following diseases:

• bronchitis;
• laryngitis;
• anemia;
• oncology;
• tuberculosis;
• atherosclerosis;
• illnesses of cardio-vascular system.

Watermelon honey retains everything useful material contained in fresh watermelon:

• calcium;
• magnesium;
• iron;
• phosphorus;
• potassium;
• beta-carotene;
• vitamins PP, B and E.

By taking watermelon honey during infectious diseases, you can use it to increase your immunity and avoid illness.

You can watch in detail all the stages of preparing watermelon honey in this video:

All materials on the website are presented for informational purposes only. Before using any product, consultation with a doctor is MANDATORY!

I looked around the site and was surprised that there is not a single recipe for making watermelon honey. It is mine favorite treat, and for colds it simply has no equal. I hope it is useful to someone.

Ingredients for Watermelon Honey:

Recipe for “Watermelon honey”:

We will need:
Deep saucepan – 3 pieces
Kitchen paper towels
Aluminum basin with thick bottom
Knife
Tablespoon – 2 pieces
Tolkushka
Sieve
Sterile gauze – 1 meter 20 centimeters
Skimmer

Preparing the watermelon
To begin with, on the stove turned on strong fire, put a deep pan with plain water and bring it to a boil. We need water in order to process the equipment that we will use while preparing honey with boiling water.
To prepare watermelon honey or, as it is also called, nardek, you need to choose the most ripe watermelons late varieties, such watermelons contain more glucose and sucrose, which during cooking help the watermelon juice become thicker.
First, let's rinse the watermelons under the running water. cold water and dry with kitchen paper towels.
We take a clean, boiled-water-treated aluminum basin with a thick bottom and, using a knife, cut the watermelon into two halves directly above it, this process is necessary so that every drop of juice is preserved during slicing.

Then take a clean tablespoon, scalded with boiling water, and scoop out the pulp from each half of the watermelon directly into an aluminum bowl.
Take a clean masher, treated with boiling water, and use it to mash the watermelon pulp until pureed.
The watermelon pulp is dented, but there are still seeds in it, which will be completely unnecessary in the honey.

Therefore, we place the same clean strainer on a clean, deep saucepan treated with boiling water and rub all the watermelon pulp through it with a tablespoon, this way we separate the seeds.

We take clean, sterile gauze and, using scissors treated with boiling water, cut off 2 pieces of 60 by 60 centimeters. Fold each piece in half and place a clean tablespoon of watermelon puree on one of them, right in the middle. We connect the edges of the gauze with our hands so that we get a bag, and squeeze the watermelon juice through it directly into an aluminum basin. After all the juice has been squeezed out, throw out the remaining watermelon pulp and place the basin with the juice on the stove, set to high heat. Bring the juice to a boil, stirring vigorously and removing the foam from it using a clean slotted spoon treated with boiling water. Be sure to remove the foam, as all dirt and nitrates are removed with it. There is no need to boil the juice for a long time; after boiling, 2-3 minutes will be enough.
Let the hot watermelon juice cool until room temperature. Take a second piece of gauze and strain the cooled watermelon juice through it directly into a clean, deep saucepan. We remove the gauze with the remnants of watermelon fibers; we will no longer need it, and we pour the juice from the pan into the aluminum basin in which it was boiled and put it on the stove, turned on on low heat.

The second cooking of watermelon juice lasts a very long time - approximately 3 to 6 hours, this process depends on the ripeness of the watermelon and its juiciness. To make it thick quality honey, cook the watermelon juice until excess moisture has evaporated from it. It should become very thick and decrease in volume by about 5-6 times, sometimes even more. During cooking, you must constantly stir the watermelon mass with a slotted spoon at intervals of 5–6 minutes so that the honey being prepared does not burn. The honey will change color and turn light brown.

While the honey is boiling, remembering to stir it periodically, let’s prepare jars for storing it. Take 2 half-liter jars, 2 lids for preservation and a large deep saucepan of about 5 liters, lower the container into it and pour water so that it is 2 fingers above the level of the jars. We put the lids there too. Place a saucepan with jars and lids on the stove, set to high heat, and sterilize the equipment in boiling water for 15 minutes. The time for sterilization of jars and lids is calculated after the water boils. We take out the sterilized jars with tongs along with boiling water and place them on a table previously covered with a waffle towel, and leave them to cool in this form. Leave the lids in a saucepan with boiling water. After the water in the jars has cooled, pour it out, cover the table with a new, clean waffle towel, since the previous towel has been wet from water for a long time, and place the sterilized jars on it, bottom down.

In order to start canning watermelon honey, you need to be sure that it is ready. Take a clean, sterile tablespoon, treated with boiling water, take a small amount of honey into it and drop it onto a cold plate. The drop should be thick, very viscous and not spread all over the plate, or if it spreads a little, then it should do it very slowly. The consistency of finished watermelon honey resembles regular honey or very heavy cream. If the mass of honey you prepared is thick and viscous, then it is ready. We turn the sterilized jars upside down, take one and place it in a clean, deep plate treated with boiling water, it is needed so that not a single drop of nardek is lost, the honey from the plate can then be eaten. Using a clean ladle treated with boiling water, scoop honey from the basin and pour it into the jar to the very top. Cover the jar of honey with a sterilized lid, which can be easily removed with a clean hand from water that has long cooled down. Cover the lid with a preservation key and tighten it with the key so that the lid fits tightly to the neck of the jar.
The color of watermelon honey is dark red or even brown, the consistency is viscous, and the taste is very sweet. There is no need to cool the honey under a blanket like any other preserved food; we just put it in a cool place to let it cool.

Nardek or, as it is also called, watermelon honey, served in a bowl with a teaspoon. It can be eaten separately as a snack with tea or coffee, spread on any type of bread, and used in making cakes and pies. Watermelon honey makes an excellent syrup for cakes, pretzels and gingerbread. This honey has medicinal properties and improves digestion, it is often added to children's cereals. Watermelon honey will delight you with its aroma and taste in winter.

− Watermelon honey tolerates storage well; you don’t have to preserve it, but simply tighten the neck of the jars parchment paper and tie with an elastic band or twine. It is better to store such honey in a dark, well-ventilated area.

− Watermelon pulp can be ground using a blender or through a manual and electric meat grinder, but before using these units, the manual meat grinder must be boiled for 15-20 minutes in water, and the parts of the blender or electric meat grinder must be thoroughly rinsed and doused with boiling water.

− If you can’t have a lot of sugar, are you watching your figure or have diabetes, you should not consume watermelon honey, it contains a lot of sucrose and glucose.

− If you took unripe watermelon, it can also be used to prepare nardek, but such honey will be a little sour.

− Using the technology described above, you can prepare other types of honey; it can be honey from mulberries, grapes, melons or other sweet fruits. But remember that the fruits you choose should not be sour. Because condensed acid is tasteless and does not curdle well during cooking.

− Carefully monitor the thickening of the juice, mix it thoroughly and often with a slotted spoon so that it does not burn and there is no burning smell in the prepared honey.

− If you don’t have an aluminum basin, no problem, you can use an enamel basin or pan. The main thing is that they have a thick bottom.

Today I learned about watermelon honey for the first time! You should definitely cook it when the watermelon season starts!

Watermelon honey or nardek. Have you ever tried this wonderful product? If not, then this article is for you! Read and you will find out what beneficial properties has how to cook nardek and how to treat it!

The watermelon season gives us a great opportunity not only to enjoy this amazing delicious berries, but also get the maximum benefit from it for your health! Consisting of more than 90% water, watermelon has an excellent effect on digestion, improves appetite and quenches thirst remarkably.

Watermelon honey:

For those who care about their health, September is a great time for:

• carrying out Watermelon rinsing,
• improvements liver function,
• kidney,
• saturating the body with easily digestible sugars.
• Watermelon is indicated for patients suffering from stomach ulcers and
• duodenum, as well as
• kidney diseases and
• spine.

For those who dream of losing weight, there is a wonderful reason to spend fasting days on watermelons. Fiber and pectin, of which there is so much in watermelon, help start the intestines, relieve constipation, and remove cholesterol. Watermelon also speeds up metabolism. More pleasant disposal extra pounds with health benefits is probably difficult to imagine.

For women, watermelon is an excellent source of folic acid, beta-carotene and vitamins B and C, which prevent skin aging and help prolong youth.

But few people know that the benefits of watermelons can be preserved even winter period by preparing one great product that is good for your health - Watermelon honey!

In Central Asia watermelon honey is called nardek, cook and store enough of it to last for the entire winter period. But for us, this product is just beginning to lift the veil of secrecy. But watermelon honey is rich in vitamins and beneficial amino acids.

Benefits of watermelon honey:

• it contains all the vitamins, micro- and macroelements that are in watermelon: PP, E and B, iron, beta-carotene, pectin, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, folic acid, potassium,
• useful for bronchitis,
• favorable for laryngitis,
• treats colds,
• diseases of the cardiovascular system,
• restores stomach function,
• has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the kidneys and liver,
• increases hemoglobin in the blood,
• helps in treatment of tuberculosis,
• used to prevent atherosclerosis,
• indispensable for nutrition in oncological diseases,
• increases the body's resistance, strengthens the immune system.

Since watermelon honey is prepared without sugar and without bees, it is an excellent value food product for those who are allergic to bee products and cannot afford regular bee honey.

Watermelon honey - contraindications:

• obesity,
• diabetes.

Personally, I have never seen watermelon honey sold in a store, but making it at home is not at all difficult, especially while there are still watermelons on the market. In fact, nardek is watermelon juice evaporated during long-term boiling. It doesn't require sugar, but it will need your time. But I am sure that you will not regret it if you prepare valuable watermelon honey, the recipe for which you will find below

How to prepare Nardek:

Wash the watermelons and cut them into several pieces. Cut out the pulp.

Grind the pulp and rub through a colander.

Place the juice on the fire in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, skimming off the foam.

Now let's strain the juice through cheesecloth and put it on the fire again. When boiling, the heat should be reduced to a minimum and cooked with constant stirring to avoid the juice from burning to the walls and bottom of the pan. Cook watermelon honey until its volume decreases by 5 times. The readiness of nardek is checked in the same way as the readiness of jam - the cooled drop does not spread over the plate. Pour the finished honey into hot sterile jars and roll up the lids.

It is better to store watermelon honey in the refrigerator.

How to use watermelon honey:

1. In cooking, nardek can be added to dough for baking desserts instead of natural honey, can be added as a natural sweetener to porridge, cottage cheese and tea.
2. To quench your thirst, dilute a tablespoon of watermelon honey in a glass of water.
3. To prevent and treat liver diseases, add nardek to oat broth.
4. To treat gastrointestinal and kidney diseases, add watermelon honey to tea or special decoctions.
5. To prevent cardiovascular diseases, add nardek to rosehip decoction.
6. Even an old cough can be cured by watermelon honey in combination with onion juice and apple cider vinegar.

Just don't overdo it!

"Live easy!" warns: overeating may worsen gastritis and even cause vomiting. Therefore, introduce watermelon honey into your diet gradually - a teaspoon per day.

And be healthy!