Nellikka achar recipe with step by step photos and videos.

Nellikka achar is a famous pickle recipe of Kerala. We make nellikka achar in so many different ways. In this recipe, whole gooseberry is pickled in authentic Kerala style. Try this recipe with rice or kanji.

Nellikka achar - About

Nellikka achar or amla pickle is an example of home-style Kerala pickle. Its main ingredient is nellikka. The word nellikka stands for gooseberry in Malayalam and achar for pickle. I think, pickle is also called achar in Hindi, right. Gooseberry conveys a sour and bitter taste and this pickle will taste sour, spicy and slightly bitter in the beginning, but as soon as the gooseberry blend with other ingredients, its bitterness will vanish and will give a beautiful spicy and sour taste to our taste buds.

Kerala nellikka achar, when we talk about this subject, I would like to say that there is a large list of gooseberry pickle in Kerala. Today's recipe is whole gooseberry pickle which I adopted from my mom. My mom used to prepare this pickle in my childhood, especially for me. I was a great fan of her pickles that time.

What is nellikka?

Nellikka in the Malayalam terms which translates to gooseberry in English. It is a miracle fruit which gives a sour as well as the bitter taste in first bite and a nice sweet aftertaste. This light yellowish green colored fruit is known for its health benefits. It is famous for its anti-oxidant, iron, vitamin C and Vitamin K content. Our parents advice us take alma daily to make our immunity strong.

Nellikka in other languages

English - Gooseberry

Malayalam - Nellikka

Tamil - Nellikkai

Telugu - Usirikaya

Kannada - Nellikkai

Hindi - Amla

Nellikka achar - Tips and Tricks

While making the nellikka achar or amla pickle use fresh good quality gooseberries for longer shelf life and taste.
In this Kerala style pickle recipe, I used gingelly oil. Gingelly oil is a normal ingredient of most Kerala pickle recipes. Instead of gingelly oil, you use coconut oil or a combination of both in 1:1 proportion.
Some Kerala gooseberry pickle recipes, demands precooked gooseberries. Gooseberries are either boiled or steamed in those recipes. But today, we have a one-pot pickle recipe, which do not need any boiling or steaming step. Gooseberries will soften while processing in the pickle gravy itself.

How to store nellikka pickle for long time?

If you want to store this pickle for a long time, double the amount of oil, vinegar, salt and boiled water. This pickle will last three weeks at room temperature without any contamination if properly stored, otherwise refrigerate it.
Choose clean and dry bottles for storing the pickle. Wash the bottle thoroughly with water, then sundry it. Moisture in the bottle will cause the microbial growth.
If storing for more time, make sure you the gooseberries have immersed fully in the gravy. Otherwise, put a greased white cotton cloth over the pickle and put a tight lid. The cotton will prevent direct contact of pickle with the microbes.

Nellikka Achar Recipe | Kerala Nellikka Achar Recipe | Kerala Style Gooseberry Achar Recipe | Kerala Pickle Recipe

Kerala pickled gooseberries

Preparation time: 7 minutes | Cooking Time: 10 minutes | Total time: 17 minutes

Ingredients

500 gm gooseberry / nellikka / amla
1 bulb garlic, peeled and halved
4 green chilies, sliced
2 springs of curry leaves
1.5 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek powder
Asafoetida as needed (use 1/4 to 1/2 tsp considering its flavor)
Vinegar as needed (I used 2.5 tbsps.)
Salt as needed
1/4 to 1/2 cups gingelly oil / nallenna

How to Make Nellikka Achar - Video

Nellikka achar recipe with step by step photos

Wash gooseberries thoroughly in fresh water and discard its stem and leaves if any. Keep in colander for some time or pat dry with a kitchen towel and set aside.
Heat a wok and put gingelly oil. Use more oil if you want to keep the pickle for a long time.
Put mustard seeds and wait till the mustard seeds crackle.
Once the crackling stops, put garlic cloves, green chilies and curry leaves.
Sauté over medium flame.
Once the spices turn aromatic and the garlic attains a light brown color at its edge, reduce the flame and put turmeric powder, chili powder and Kashmiri chili powder. The Kashmiri chili powder is optional, it is just to get a bright red color. If your chili powder is bright enough, you can avoid it.
Sauté and wait till the raw smell of the spice powders vanishes. Make sure, you have reduced the flame before adding the powders and the spices not burn.
Further add 3/4 cup of hot water and mix well. Hot water is mandatory, never replace it with normal water or cold water.
Add salt to taste. Both salt, vinegar and oil is used as preservatives. I personally don't like to use more salt and oil in my dishes. If you are making the pickle for long term use, then do increase the amount of these three ingredients.
Add fenugreek powder. If the fenugreek is not roasted, then incorporate in step 6.
Add asafoetida. Use 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp depending on its flavor. Fresh packets are more aromatic. Asafoetida blocks gives best flavor, if you have used it.
Mix well and let the gravy to boil over high flame. When come to a rolling oil, do a taste test. Add spices and salt if required.
Put the gooseberries carefully and immerse them in the gravy with the help of a spoon.
Let it boil for one minute. Switch off the flame. Boiling for more than two minutes will make the gooseberries soft. When we store them for more time, it will turn tasteless. The gooseberries, will attain a light yellow color and will remain little bit harder at this stage.
When the pickle comes to room temperature, store in a clean and dry bottle. You can use the pickle from the second day of preparation.
Enjoy.