Indian Gooseberry Pickle | Nellikai Oorugai
A lip-smacking instant gooseberry pickle or nellikai oorugai as we say in Tamil with frozen gooseberries! Easy pickle recipe with frozen gooseberries.
Servings: 20
Calories: 20kcal
Ingredients
- 10 gooseberries frozen,the big green ones. Thaw it to room temperature
- 2 tbsp water or as required to pressure cook + water to add in the pressure cooker
- 3 tbsp oil preferably gingelly or sesame oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp salt heaped tsp or to taste
- ½ tsp asafetida
- ½ tsp fenugreek powder vendiya podi
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
Instructions
Cook the gooseberries-
- Pressure cook/Steam the gooseberries in a pressure pan or cooker for 2 to 3 whistles. (Check recipe notes for cooking time) As you can see in the picture, I placed the gooseberries on a plate which I then put it on top of my rice bowl. I just drizzled about 2 to 3 tbsps of water on top. You can pressure cook it in your preferred way. Let the pressure subside and let the gooseberries cool.
Deseed and chop the cooked gooseberries-
- It's quite easy to deseed the cooked gooseberries. Just press the gooseberry, and it will break into two like below.
- Now remove the seeds and chop into small pieces.
Prepare the pickle-
- In a pan or kadai, heat the oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. When it splutters, reduce the heat and add the chopped gooseberries, red chili powder, fenugreek powder, turmeric powder, hing, and salt.
- Mix thoroughly. If you want to make it like thokku, mash the gooseberry while mixing. I did not mash it thoroughly. Check recipe notes for details.
- Let it cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes until the oil oozes out on the sides and top.
- Allow the pickle to cool and store the pickle in an air-tight container.
Notes
- This gooseberry pickle stays good for months in the refrigerator. Make sure to use a clean spoon during every use.
- If you want to make this pickle like thokku (grated and mashed pickle), cook the gooseberries for four whistles. After removing the seeds, instead of chopping, you can roughly mash it also. Or, mash while mixing.
- Fenugreek Powder - If you don't want to buy fenugreek powder just for this recipe, you can very well make it home. Dry roast 1 tbsp of fenugreek seeds until it turns light brown and crisp. Then grind it into a coarse powder. You can use it this fenugreek powder for pickles and kuzhambu also. My grandma roasts fenugreek and grinds it along with dry turmeric root and stores it. She always a pinch of this powder on top of sambar and vathal kuzhambu.
- You can also add ¼ tsp of mustard powder in this recipe. It's a great preservative.
- I prefer gingelly oil or sesame oil for my pickles, but you can use regular cooking oil as well.
- As always, adjust the salt and spice according to your preference.
Nutrition
Calories: 20kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 118mg | Potassium: 2mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Iron: 1mg