Amla Indian Gooseberries Sweet and Sour Pickle-Style Dry Curry
Amla Sabji Aachari - Khatti Meethi
Note from Mamta : This very popular North Indian recipe comes from my late mother Yashoda Gupta. Amla is considered to have many medicinal properties. This dish is eaten like a pickle, in small quantities. Serves 4-6 as a side dish.
Unlike Western Gooseberries which grow on plants, Amla is a fruit that comes from big trees. Each fruit has a hard stone at its centre.
Amla is a rich source of Vitamin C, which is not all destroyed during cooking. It’s dried fruit is powdered and added to many Ayurvedic stomach remedies and often used in traditional Indian hair shampoos. Amla oil is considered an excellent tonic for keeping hair strong and shiny. Vitamin D in it helps to absorb calcium and strengthens the bones. It has diuretic, laxative, cardio-protective, cooling, and anti-infective properties. Its antioxidants are said help to keep Cholesterol down.
Other names for Aamla are Amalaki, Ambi, Ambla, Emblic, Myrobalan.
Edited January 2023
Ingredients
- 250 gm. Amla fruit
- 2-3 tsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp. Panch-pooran/Phoran. If you don't have this, use mustard seeds or Nigella seeds or a mix of mustard and fennel seeds.
- 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
- 3/4 tsp. salt, adjust to taste
- 1/4 tsp. coarsely ground red chillies or chilli flakes
- 2 level tbsp. Jaggery or brown sugar, adjust to taste
Instructions
- Wash and towel dry amlas.
- Slice off the flesh from the stone using a sharp knife. The safest way to do this is to hold each amla firmly on a chopping board and slice flesh off from all four sides.
- Heat oil in a pan and add panch-pooran.
- As the seeds begin to splutter, add everything else. Give it a good stir and turn the heat low.
- Cook covered on low heat until cooked. They should become soft, but not be mushy.
- Stir in sugar until it is well mixed.
- Taste and adjust seasoning ans sweetness.
- Serve hot or at room temperature with Plain Paratha or as part of any Indian meal.