Instant Amla Pickle / Nellikkai Urugai

This week’s second recipe is Instant Amla Pickle. Traditional preparation of pickle uses more oil and salt for longer shelf life of the pickle. In a healthy point of view, we don’t prefer salty and oily pickle in our meal as we include pickle every weekend and sometimes during weekdays for parathas. because of it, We prepare instant one frequently in smaller quantity with less oil and salt.

Since the baseline preparation for all almost the pickles is same, I do change only the main ingredient for different type of pickles. Here, I used amla as main ingredient and boiled it to get instant softness. You can boil it with water or steam it till they become soft. As I said before, I used less oil and salt. If you don’t want to sacrifice the authentic look and taste of it, add more oil and salt.

Basic Information:

Preparation Time: <10 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Makes: about 1 and 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

Amla / Indian gooseberry / Nellikkai – 10 nos, medium size

Dry red chilli – 6 nos

Fenugreek seeds – 1/8 teaspoon

Turmeric powder – a big pinch

Salt – to taste

Gingelly oil – 1 tablespoon

Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon

Asafoetida – a big pinch

Method:

1) Heat water along with a pinch of salt and turmeric in a sauce pan. When it is boiling, add amla slowly. Let it be in rolling boil for 5 minutes. Turn the flame off. Drain the water and allow the amla to cool.

2) Meanwhile, dry roast red chilli and fenugreek seeds. Make a powder of it. Keep it aside.

3) Now, Cut into wedges once the amla reaches to room temperature.

4) Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil. When it is hot,add asafoetida and mustard seeds. Allow it to splutter.

5) Add amla wedges. Mix well. Let it cook for 3-5 minutes in low flame.

6) Add powder of dry red chilli and fenugreek seeds that we prepared already. Add turmeric and salt. Remember, we added salt to the amla while boiling(in first step). So, add salt accordingly. Mix well.

7) Cook for 2-3 minutes and turn the flame off.

8) Cool to room temperature and store in a dry container. Keep refrigerated for longer shelf life.