Amla and curry leaf pickle to boost immunity

This Amla and curry leaf pickle is one of the best immunity boosting condiments that’s easy to make and versatile enough to include in several meals every week. 

What’s more? In the times of lockdown many of us aren’t getting a regular supply of vegetables so this pickle could compensate for the vegetables, providing comparable nourishment in terms of vitamins and minerals and even fiber content. The pickle uses huge amount of curry leaves that are high in vitamins and minerals as well as fiber and of course the other ingredients are the added benefit. 

I have been sharing a lot of immunity boosting foods lately, something we all need right now to fight the COVID-19 and keep our health in best possible state. 

Immunity building through read foods that are rich in antioxidants, hepatoprotective and immune boosting is the best holistic way to build and protect the health. In fact there are so many factors that compromise our immunity that almost all of us can be vulnerable in one or the other situation. Think about the people who are into essential services are exposed to more pathogenload, the aging people have their immunity compromised, kids with allergies, seemingly healthy young adults with high stress levels and others who have had surgeries and chemotherapies. All these situations can become a potential for compromised immunity. 

The good thing is, that we have simple and affordable foods that can become the saviour. Like I have been saying on my Instagram posts and all the immunity boosting recipe posts here as well, the spices and herbs, some specific fruits and vegetables are very good immunity boosters. 

In this post I am sharing a recipe of a pickle made of Amla, curry leaves, ginger, garlic and red chillies apart from fenugreek and nigella seeds. All these ingredients are commonly used in Indian kitchens but the combination here is something that gives you a good dose of immunity boost in each serving which is good enough if you are including this pickle in your meals even 3-4 times a week. 

If you don’t have access to fresh Amla in this season, get some dry Amla or Amla powder and use about 75 gm of that along with grated raw mango for bulking up.  

Ingredients 

Amla cleaned, cut into bits and seeds removed 600 gm (or 75 gm Amla powder + 500 gm grated raw mangoes) 

Curry leaves cleaned, rinsed and dried on a kitchen towel 250 gm 

Chopped ginger 150 gm 

Garlic cloves 150 gm 

Dry red chillies 200 gm (the chilli heat is balanced well with the other ingredients)

Peppercorns 30 gm 

Fenugreek seeds 50 gm 

Nigella seeds 50 gm 

Salt 200 gm

Oil (sesame, peanut or light olive oil) 700 ml 

Procedure 

Let the cut Amla pieces dry a little bit so the surface wetness is gone. Dry the curry leaves for a couple of hours after washing so the surface is dry to touch. We don’t have to dehydrate the Amla and curry leaves. Mix these and pulse in the mixie jar to get a coarse paste, there should be bits of Amla with a bite. 

Make a coarse paste of ginger and garlic as well. You can grate the ginger and mince the garlic but try not to make a smooth paste. 

Cut the dry red chillies with a scissor and make a coarse powder of this along with the spices.

Heat the oil in a large cast iron or iron pan, add the coarse powder of spices first and mix well for a second, using a spatula. Immediately tip in the ginger garlic mix as well and fry the mixture for 2 minutes till it starts dehydrating. 

Now add the Amla curry leaves coarse paste and mix well along with salt. Switch off the gas after a couple of minutes and keep mixing for a few more minutes. 

Let the pickle cool down and then transfer to a sterilised glass jar, take care to keep pressing down the pickle mix so there are no air gaps in between. Pour a little more oil on top so there is a ½ inch layer of oil skimming the surface. It will be absorbed within a day but the pickle stays well for a year, getting darker as it ages, the taste remains the same though. 

This Amla and curry leaves pickle is a versatile condiment. It can be paired with idli, dosa, adai, pesarettu type South Indianbreakfast dishes or with paratha, roti, khichdi or dal rice type North Indian dishes. 

Mixed with a little chopped onions and tomatoes it makes a good kachumber salad. Along with thick cultured yogurt it can make adelicious dip for crudités and crackers. 

This Amla and curry leaves pickle can be treated like a chutney that stays well at room temperature for a year. I have been making it now and then but since I have access to wild Amla here in Dehradun I have made two batches in the last 4 months. I ended up gifting this pickle to a few people and everyone loved the taste. A neighbour from Andhra loves it mixed with his rice while a Tamil friend said it’s very good with her curd rice. We love it with our khichdi, dal rice and paratha mostly but with dosa and idli too. 

The colour of this Amla and curry leaves pickle gets darker as it ages but the taste remains the same. Do try it this season and let me know how you like it.

This pickle is naturally great for skin and hair because these ingredients are used for hair tonics too. Isn’t it better to pickle them and eat them regularly to improve overall health, immunity and skin and hair health too.