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Nellikai (amla) Pachadi

Time
Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 2 min Total Time: 12 mins
Servings 6
Description
Lip smacking, tangy amla raita
Ingredients
  • Fresh curd – 1 ½ cups
  • Salt – to taste
  • For paste
  • Amla (nellikai, Indian gooseberry, chopped – ¼ cup)
  • Green chillies – 1-2
  • Grated coconut (fresh – ¼ cup)
  • For tempering
  • Ghee (clarified butter OR oil – 2 tsp)
  • Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
  • Asafoetida (hing – ½ tsp)
  • Dry red chilli – 1 (broken)
  • Urad dal – ½ tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Serving suggestions
  • steamed rice
Instructions
  1. Grind together ingredients under ‘paste’ with 1-2 tbsp water or as needed for grinding.
  2. In a bowl put curd, salt, amla paste and whisk till smooth.
  3. For tempering, heat ghee/oil. Add all tempering ingredients and let mustard splutter. Then pour tempering to curd-amla in the bowl.
  4. Mix well. Serve with some warm steamed rice and fried curd chillies or relish as is!
Note
Indian gooseberry or ‘amla’ in Hindi & Gujarathi, avaalo in Konkani, nellikai in Kannada & Tamil, usiri in Telugu, ma kham pom in Thai. It is a light green tart fruit and botanical name for amla is Emblica officinalis.
Medicinal value – Amla is known to enhance digestion, promote longevity, reduce cough or fever, stimulate hair growth, purify blood, strengthen the heart and also beneficial for the eyes.
Culinary uses – They can be eaten raw or cooked and added to various dishes such as dal, chutneys. They can be pickled with salt and preserved. Amla Murabba is a popular Andhra Pradesh/ North Indian specialty. Here amla is cooked and preserved in sugar syrup.