Amla~Green Chilly~Ginger Pickle / Avalo~Tarni Mirsanga~Alley Nonche.

“Amla~Green Chilly~Ginger Pickle / Avalo~Tarni Mirsanga~Alley Nonche with a dash of Curry Leaves (Kadipatta/Karbev) Flavor” … My very own method of preparing green chilly pickle with addition of amla and curry leaves to bring in a healthier touch … This is a spicy~tangy pickle exclusively for chilly pickle lovers … tastes great with pejja / rice porridge or chapati / poori / parathas … Something different and Spicilicious ….

** A little bit of pickle served in the corner of the Thali not only goes a long way but tickles the taste bud to satisfaction many a times. Pickles are a must during all functions and by and large they are prepared with seasonal veggies available during that period of times. We Konkani Saraswats always prepare fresh pickle during functions, mostly it is mixed vegetable or raw mango pickle that rules the pickle list. Then there is adgai another type of pickle which is prepared too with veggies like raw jackfruit with raw mangoes, or spine gourd or surna koota etc. Whatever be the method of preparation, pickle is definitely a must as far as the tradition goes. After marriage and settling in Mumbai, I was wonder struck looking at so many types of pickle kept in large glass bottles for sale. There were so many varieties of them specially the ones with chillies be it large red one’s (jalapeno) or the green variety. Then there was amla in murabba (a sweet one) and spicy pickle with dry masalas. Though I am not a huge fan of pickles, my mouth did water looking at them. I have never relished pickles much as they are spicy and spicy dishes were never much of my favorite during childhood, it was only much later almost after marriage that I learned to eat them. 

** No, not that sweets were my favorite, but my spice tolerance level was somewhere medium and to date I cannot eat these chilly pickles. But hubby loves it, he loves anything spicy that brings tears in eyes, God knows what the joy is in crying as you eat, but some simply love spicy dishes that brings tears from eyes and smoke from ears. So I learned to prepare these for his sake and to date it is that way. I just take a pinch as a tongue teaser that’s it. But homemade pickles are always much better to the ones available in the stores for the mere fact that we know exactly what ingredients are added into them and also you get to experiment with them by giving twists in addition of ingredients. I have posted a Amla~Green Chilly pickle before which I had learned from a Maharashtrian neighbor somewhere 25 yrs back. This time I changed the ingredients as an experiment and prepared it with amla-green-chilly-ginger along with curry leaves and other added in flavors. In all a very spicy and flavorful pungent pickle that my hubby simple loved. Do try this out if you love pickles specially those prepared from green chillies. The addition of amla makes the pickle that much more delicious and healthier, so also the addition of curry leaves. 

** Moving on to the Recipe .... here is my Method of preparing “Amla~Green Chilly~Ginger Pickle / Avalo~Tarni Mirsanga~Alley Nonche with a dash of Curry Leaves (Kadipatta/Karbev) Flavor” … My Own Style ..... 

** Ingredients : 

Amla / Avalo / Gooseberry / Nellikayee : 6 large sized clean and without spots ones. 

Green Chillies / Tarni Mirsanga / Hirvi Mirchi : 25 – 30 less spicy ones. 

Adrak / Alley / Ginger : 1 inch piece (Optional)

Lemons / Limbiyo / Nimboo : 4 large sized 

Kala Namak / Rock Salt Powder : Approx. 2 tblsp or to taste. (you can use any salt) 

Mustard Oil / Rai ka Tel / Sasive Yenne : ½ cup 

** For Masala : 

Whole Mustard seeds / Rai / Sasam : 1 tsp 

Split Mustard yellow seeds : 3 tblsp 

Coriander Seeds / Kothimbir / Dhania : 1 tblsp 

Methi / Fenugreek seeds : ½ tsp 

Fennel Seeds / Badisep / Saunf : 1 tblsp 

Turmeric / Haldi Powder : ½ tsp 

Asafoetida / Hing : 1 tsp (depending upon its aroma) 

Curry Leaves / Kadipatta / Karbev : 25-30 

** Preparing of Amla / Avalo / Gooseberry / Nellikayee for the Pickle : Wash and wipe the amlas clean. Put them in a vessel and cook on steam in a steaming container / pedavana for 10 minutes. You can also slice them to pieces and microwave them for 2 minutes (I microwaved the amlas). The amla should just be cooked and not get too softened, there should be no trace of water. Cut them into segments when steamed and cooled, discard the inner seeds. Keep them aside to cool completely. 

** Preparing of Green Chillies / Tarni Mirsanga / Hirvi Mirchi for the Pickle : Wash and wipe the chillies dry with a cloth. There should be no trace of water. Trim off the stems and cut the chillies into 1/3 inch size of rings / round cuts. Put this in a glassware bowl and add in a large pinch of haldi powder and a little bit of salt and mix together. Keep this ready aside. 

** Note : I have used the light colored less spicy long green chillies available in Mumbai as shown in the picture. You can use any fresh one's but do adjust them according to the spicy level as the darker shaded green chillies are sometimes very spicy. 

** Preparing of Adrak / Alley / Ginger for the Pickle : Wash the ginger well to remove all dirt particles if any. Peel off the outer skin with a peeler and then cut them into very fine pieces. Keep this aside of a towel to dry to remove excess water if any. 

** Note : Addition of ginger is optional, you can leave it out if you do not wish to add the same. It does not change the taste of the pickle. I added on as it is healthy and we like eating tender ginger pieces. 

** Preparing of Curry Leaves / Kadipatta / Karbev for the Pickle : Wash and dry the curry leaves well, there should be absolutely no trace of water. Now dry it in sunlight or microwave till its crisp and can be crushed to powder. Coarsely crush it and keep it ready aside. 

** Roasting of the Ingredients for the preparation of Pickle : In a thick bottomed kadai dry roast Whole Mustard seeds (Rai / Sasam), Split Mustard Yellow seeds, Coriander Seeds (Kothimbir / Dhania), Methi (Fenugreek seeds), Fennel Seeds (Badisep / Saunf), each one separately for a few minutes each. Keep the flame slow while roast otherwise the ingredients turn bitter. They should be well roasted and crunch, that's it. Once each ingredient is roasted keep them separately to cool down. 

** Note : If you have access to Sunlight, you can put them in hot sunlight too instead of roasting and use the same in the pickle. The usual method is to sun dry them, but I have no access to sunlight so I always use the roasting method. 

** Grinding Method of the Masalas for the Pickle : Add the roasted whole mustard seeds, coriander seeds, methi seeds and the fennel seeds into the mixer grinder and grind to a semi coarse powder. Now add in the crushed curry leaves and continue on pulse mode to a get a coarser powder together. Finally add in the split mustard yellow seeds and pulse grind twice of thrice. You just need to crush and not powder the dal, that'it. Remove the powder into a wide glassware dish. 

** Now add the cut green chillies, amla pieces (cooled), ginger pieces and salt to the ground powder and mix well. Heat the mustard oil in a small pan, once it reaches the smoking point remove from fire and then add in the haldi powder and hing powder. Now immediately pour this over the amla-chilly mixture prepared above and mix well with a clean dry spoon. The mixture should be well mixed so that the oil gets evenly mixed with powder. 

** Now cut the lemons into two and squeeze out fresh juice from them. Do not try squeezing them with too much force, lest the bitterness of the skin gets added on to the pickles. We need the fresh juice only, also take care to see that there are no seeds in the juice. Now add this juice to the pickle and mix well. Level the pickle well with the back of the spoon while tightly pressing it down. This helps the juices to get embedded within well. 

** Cover the pickle with a tight lid and keep it aside for some time, say about 6-8 hours.  Once again mix the pickle well, then put it in a sterilized glass bottle and fasten with a tight lid. Leave the jar aside for a day or two and the pickle is ready to be used. Always use a fresh clean stainless steel spoon to remove the pickle from the bottle. Personally I recommend storing a some of the pickle in a small bottle and keeping it refilled to avoid opening the whole lot each time you want to serve. 

** “Amla~Green Chilly~Ginger Pickle / Avalo~Tarni Mirsanga~Alley Nonche with a dash of Curry Leaves (Kadipatta/Karbev) Flavor” is done and ready to be served. Serve this as a tongue tickler along with other dishes and you will really enjoy its tastes, specially if the dishes are like dosa, paratha, peja, roti etc. Do try out this pickle, if you are fond of them, but beware they are very spicy and trust me they have to be prepared in that manner. I add in a small spoon of this topped on fresh homemade curds and enjoy them with aloo parathas or any other roti. Yummy, they taste great that way and also the spice level gets cut down. 

** Note : For this particular pickle mustard oil brings out the best taste to the pickle, though you may add in any other oil of your choice too. I have always added on mustard oil, so frankly I have no idea how the pickle tastes with any other oil. I always put in the refrigerator as Mumbai heat and humidity is unpredictable. This pickle remains good for a 2-3 months at room temperature, if taken proper care while preparing, but in Mumbai the heat and humidity is too much and pickles always somehow do not remain well. Again, the quantity of oil added too counts. If add in a little bit more it does remain good but then it is not good for the health. In order to avoid all these hazels I always store the bottle in fridge and it remains good for over 6 months for me. 

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