Instant Amla Achar (Gooseberry Pickle)

Do you love Amla/Gooseberries? They are a wonderful fruit, so full of goodness. It helps your hair growth, eyesight, skin, bowel, heart and even helps in weight loss. It is also known for its anti-ageing capabilities.

Because of so many qualities, I am always finding innovative ways of adding this wonder berry in my diet. I make pickles and chutneys when it is in season. My mum also makes amazing digestive golis/balls out of them to be had after meals. We used to have three Amla trees in my backyard in my old house and mum made sure she used all the fruits and preserved them in one way or the other.

Pickle is a regular way to save this for the year, but I also make this Instant pickle which stays fresh for several weeks and can be made in winters. This will last well for a few weeks and the best part is that this can be made with just a few tablespoons of oil.

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes
COOKING TIME: 10-15 minutes
SERVINGS: 1 Jar
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Medium

INGREDIENTS:
1. Amla/Gooseberries – 1 kg
2. Garlic greens – 20-30 stalks, optional
3. Garlic pods – ½ cup
4. Ginger – a 10-inch piece
5. Green chilli – 100gms
6. Turmeric Powder – 2 tablespoons
7. Mustard/Vegetable oil – 2-3 tablespoons
8. Salt – to taste

RECIPE:
1. Thoroughly wash the gooseberries/amla
2. Add them to a pressure cooker and give them one steam. Immediately remove from flame. Remove the steam if it is not released after 5-7 minutes.
3. Cool the boiled Amla and cut into small bite-size pieces now and dry them completely on a muslin/cotton cloth(preferably in the sun or leave overnight).
4. Clean and dry out the chilli too. You can adjust the chilli according to your taste.
5. Peel the garlic pods and ginger stalk too.
6. In a blender, add the chillis, ginger, garlic cloves and green stalks and grind into a nice paste.
7. In a wok or kadhai, take 2 tablespoons of mustard oil and allow it to heat.
8. Add the ginger-garlic-chilli paste to the wok and cook it on high heat for 3-4 minutes till it loses its rawness. Keep stirring.

9. Now reduce the heat and add the boiled gooseberry slices to the kadhai.

10. Mix with light hands so that the pieces don’t break. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then remove from heat.
11. Once it cools, keep them in glass containers and save in fridge and consume in 3-4 weeks.

Hope you like it. You can also try out my Instant Turmeric Pickle and Instant Chilli Pickle.