Gooseberry is wonderful as a pickle. This is very easy to prepare in short time and uses minimum oil. I add only fresh spices to have nice aroma and taste of the pickle.
Gooseberry is known as Nellikkai in Tamil and as Amla in Hindi.
Ingredients
- Nellikkai – 10 to 12 no
- Red chilli – 8 to 10 no
- Turmeric – 1 small piece
- Asafetida – peas size
- Cumin seed – ½ tea spoon
- Fenugreek seed – ½ tea spoon
- Mustard – ¼ tea spoon
- Salt – as per taste
- For seasoning
- Mustard – 1 tea spoon
- Curry leaves – few
- Sesame oil – 1 table spoon
Method
- Boil 3 to 4 cups of water; when it is boiling, add ½ tea spoon turmeric powder, 1 tea spoon salt and washed gooseberry; switch off gas, close the vessel and keep it for few hours.
- Now remove the seeds from gooseberry; seed will come out easily if you keep gooseberry’s top and bottom between your fingertips and press lightly.
- Break turmeric and asafetida into small pieces and dry roast asafetida pieces in a dry pan till crisp; in the same pan roast mustard, cumin, fenugreek, turmeric pieces; remove and keep.
- Fry red chilli with little salt till crisp; cool this and grind all dry roasted items to a coarse powder with salt.
- Mix this powder with the gooseberry pieces well.
- Now heat oil in a pan; when it is smoking hot, add mustard, curry leaves; remove from fire and allow it to cool; add in the spiced gooseberry pieces; mix well, keep for 2 hours and then use.
- Tasty Nellikkai Urugai (Gooseberry Pickle) is ready.
Tips
- As we use very less oil, it is better to keep in fridge after one or two days.
- Seeds of gooseberry can be removed after steam cooking also.
- Adding little salt with red chilli helps to roast chilli quickly and you won’t get nose and throat irritation while roasting.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Slurppp!!!feel like having rite now some pickles…
so tangy & delicious pickle,…love to have that with curd rice..yum
Thanx for the wishes.U have a nice site with wide varities of dishes,will come back again
first of all thx for the recipe. One doesnt get to see pickling recipes nowadays..
Thanks for the recipes.