Nellikai Sadham / Gooseberry Rice

Nellikai is the Tamil name for Amla / Gooseberry.  Amla is generally known to strengthen hair roots and for hair colouring.  Apart from that Amla has numerous nutritional values. Amla is rich in Vitamin C compared to oranges. Amla is also known to control diabetes when consumed regularly.  Read more about Amla from a few source here and here.

I have to say that this recipe is a mere replica of Lemon rice, I have followed the same recipe for lemon rice except that lemon juice is been replaced with Amla juice.  Just like lemon rice, this Amla rice also pairs well with potato fry, but in my family mutton sukka or varuval is our favourite combine which perfectly pairs with Amla rice.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 5- 10 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
Cooked Rice- 2 cups
Amla- 8- 10 ( extract the juice out of it )
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Methi powder- 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

Seasoning:
Mustard seeds and Urad dhal- 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp
Dried red chillies- 3
Kurry leaves- 7 to 8 leaves
Chana dhal- 1 tsp
Peanuts- 1 tbsp
Oil- 1/2 tbsp

Method:

Wash the Amla well, blend it well in a blender by adding very little water.  Filter the juices only.  Mix the juice with turmeric powder, methi powder and salt.
Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds and urad dhal, when the seeds start spluttering, add fenugreek, chana dhal, peanuts and the remaining ingredients one by one.  Fry it in low flame until the peanuts looks fried and the colour changes.  Finally add the Amla juice and let it boil for a minute, now add the cooked rice and mix well to coat all the rice with the mixture.  Take it off from flame and serve warm with Mutton sukka and poppadoms.

Sending this recipe to New U, Cooking Challenge- Flavours Of Tamilnadu , Let's Cook - Rice , Let's Cook With Leftovers , Cooking With Left Over- Kitchen Chronicles hosted by Veg Junction originally created by Kalyani,