Nellikai oorugai – Gooseberry pickle

Pickles are an absolutely indispensable part of the Indian food experience. However fiery it may be, the meal is never complete without a teaspoon of it. This instant gooseberry pickle is a quick-fix idea to complete the Indian meal plate. In under 20 minutes, you have a tangy, tasty, tough tingling nellikai orrugai on your plate.

Nellikai oorugai was a part of our childhood. With a small tree that gave a small basket of fruit in season, each year amma had a variety of pickles that she made with these. Mostly long-stay ones were her favourite,  but who likes wait time? I venture to instant ones whenever I see frozen gooseberries now in the Indian grocery more often than the long-stay ones she makes out of fresh gooseberries. 

Understanding Gooseberry

The Indian gooseberry, neliikai, amlakai or amla is one that Indian mothers vouch for next to turmeric. High in Vit C these berries of Phyllanthus emblica, have a unique astringent flavour to them. Pastel green in colour with a translucent look to them, the berries form as segments around the central seed. The fresh gooseberry was a favourite snack whereas the pickled ones are tastier. In Asian and Indian cuisine,  these gooseberries are used in both sweet and savoury preparations. The tree as such is unique as it is one where the leaves demonstrate nyctinasty( sleeps at night).

Frozen vs fresh gooseberries for nellikai oorugai.

The gooseberries are hardy enough that they freeze well. Fresh or frozen gooseberries work well in this recipe. Though the fresh gooseberries tend to be a bit juicier in the pickle than the frozen ones, you really cannot fault the one made with frozen gooseberries. Today I have made this oorugai with frozen gooseberries. We hardly get fresh ones here so let’s make the best of the frozen ones. 

Prepping the gooseberries for nellikai oorugai.

Gooseberries have segmented flesh outside the hard central seed. The skin is edible and thin, so no peeling is required. Wash and remove the stalks, once you drain and pat dry the berries are ready to use.
In this recipe, we have not removed the seed. You can go a step ahead and remove the seed too. Use a sharp knife to slice of the flesh. Here is another way, easier too. Once the gooseberries have been boiled, press them down with a spoon and the segments separate.  You can easily remove the seed this way.

Storing this instant gooseberry pickle.

Since it is an instant variety of pickles, the recipe doesn’t stay for long like the traditional slow pickled ones. It is best to keep the pickle in the refrigerator and it stays for upto 3 weeks. Store in a clean, dry, airtight glass bottle. Use a clean dry spoon to serve the pickle to prevent any mould growth.

Perfect combinations with nellikai oorugai

Traditionalists are certainly going to point the way to a complete Indian meal to serve with this pickle. The pickle tastes great with Curd rice or peas pulao. I use the pickle masala to flavour peanuts to make masala peanuts. At times we make a simple meal of steamed rice with mango dal as our lunch. The gooseberry pickle on the side is the one that makes the meal well-rounded.

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You will be amazed at how easy it is to get this dish from start to finish. Now, let me also tell you it finishes as quick as it is to make it. I hope you have subscribed to our blog to receive regular updates. We thank you for staying with us and encouraging us at every step. We would love to have you visit the Youtube channel that we recently updated. Please subscribe, like and share these videos and recipes and let us know what you like and dislike about them. 

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