WTML with Arinellikkai Oorugai / Gooseberry Pickle

My mom used to make the world’s best pickles. She had so many fans in the family. Every year she made jars and jars of avakkai, vadumangai, nellikaai and maangai oorugai / pickles and gave them to relatives and friends. When she became sick, she tried to make it atleast for the family. And I will never be able to make pickles of that taste. It has been a year since my mom left me and not a single day has passed without remembering her. I try to avoid speaking with my aunts because it definitely ends with all of us crying. And I have distanced myself from all my friends and relatives so that the talk of my mom never came up. I have till now not accepted that she has left me. 

 

 

 

 

If you are not aware of arinellikkai, it is the small type of gooseberry which is very tart. We as kids would love to relish it with red chilly and salt mixture. Looking at this snap reminds me so much of my childhood and also the time I was pregnant. When I went to mom’s place for delivery, there was a gooseberry tree in my mom’s place. At that time, it was yielding so much gooseberries that my mom was flooding the house with goose berry pickle and rice. And as I was eating anything sour, all the recipes mom made with those gooseberries tasted heavenly. This pickle I am posting today is so easy to make and very very tasty. 

 

 

 

Small gooseberries/ Arinellikkai – 2 cups

Salt – 2-3 tbs 

Red Chilly Powder-1/4 cup

Asafoetida- a pinch

Fenugreek Powder-1/4 tsp

Gingelly Oil-1/3 cup

Mustard Seeds-1 tsp

Curry Leaves-2-3 sprigs

 

1. Remove the tiny stalk of the gooseberries, wash and pat them dry.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and asafoetida.

3. When they crackle, add the curry leaves and gooseberries.

4. Lower flame and let the gooseberries cook for 5 minutes.

5. Add salt, red chilly powder and fenugreek powder.

6. Give a nice mix, cook for a minute and remove from flame.

7. Allow it to cool completely before transferring it to a jar.

8. Enjoy with rice, roti or any dish of your choice..

 

P.S: Never place a wet spoon inside a pickle jar as pickle will go bad.

 

 

And to announce this month’s Walk Through Memory Lane, I thought my mom’s star dish would be apt to remember her on the first anniversary. I am hosting this month’s WTML ( if you are a new reader make sure you read about this eent here), and you can link your child hood favourite recipes here.

Make sure that you give link to this announcement page.

Usage of logo is mandatory as it spreads the word about the event.

Entries that do not link back are not eligible for the giveaway.

Two archived entries are accepted and any number of new entries accepted.

Only vegetarian and eggless recipes are to be linked.

Let us make our favourite regional dish for this event. No baked dishes please.

Like me on facebook, follow me on twitter , follow me on Pinterest and follow me on google

At the first of September, I will select a lucky winner from the entries and send the winner a gift coupon worth Rs.500 from flipkart.