This is the recipe that I have been eating for the last month and a half to keep myself eating something nutritional and that actually tastes good to my mouth in the crazy winter month of December. If you are a pickle lover then this gorgeous amla thokku can get closer and closer to your spice loving taste-buds for sure.
I am on a constant quest of finding new ways in cooking the cute, little, power packed, vitamin rich Indian gooseberries during the season. It’s a kind of compulsion for me from my own self that all seasonal vegetables and fruits should get equal prominence in food. And if there are few things that we don’t feel like eating raw, should be transformed in to something delicious and enjoyable food. That same mind set has inspired me to cook this amla thokku that is gorgeously red and awesome.
Amla or Indian gooseberry has intense tangy-taste which has to balanced with other spices when we cook the same. In this recipe, the crisp gooseberry wedges have to be steam cooked in order to turn them soft and pulpy. You can even steam cook the whole gooseberries and then separate the wedges from seed, which is much easier I would say. Then it is just grinding the soft amla with rest of spices and heating it in seasoning for few minutes to extend the shelf life. Amla thokku can last for more than a month in refrigerator and just a week if kept outside.
Amla Thokku | Indian Gooseberry Thokku Recipe
Ingredients
- De-seeded gooseberry(amla)- 2 cups
- Red chillies- 10 nos.
- Black pepper- 1 tsp
- Jaggery- 4 tsp
- Cumin seeds- 3/4 tsp
- Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
- Asafoetida- A pinch
- Salt- 3.5 tsp
Instructions
Method
- Steam cook the de-seeded Indian gooseberry wedges in a pressure cooker without adding any water. It's enough to cook up to 3 whistles in medium flame.
- When the gooseberry pieces cool down to room temperature put them in to mixer jar. Also add other spices like red chillies, cumin seeds, blackpepper, turmeric powder, salt, asafoetida and jaggery.
- Grind them all together in to fine puree. Next heat a pan with oil, mustard seeds and curry leaves. As the seeds sizzle pour the ground puree from above step and saute for few minutes till it thickens.
Notes
- You can steam cook the gooseberries first for ease of separating the wedges from it's seed.
- I have used Kashmiri red chillies which are less in spice. If you are using spicy variety red chillies, then reduce the quantity.
- You have to balance the tartness of gooseberry with appropriate spice and jaggery to enjoy perfect tasting thokku.
- Above mentioned quantity of jaggery and chillies led my thokku towards perfect taste, so adjust them as per the tangy-ness of gooseberry that you have.
This recipe was awesome…thanks to your website….