Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe | Amla Pickle Andhra Style | Indian Gooseberry Pickle | Usiri Avakaya (Usiri Uragaya)

Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe | Amla Pickle Andhra Style | Indian Gooseberry Pickle | Usiri Avakaya (Usiri Uragaya) – Spicy, tangy lip-smacking Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe – Amla Pickle Recipe prepared with amla aka Gooseberry tastes amazing when served with hot rice and ghee.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2016 and has been updated with Video and replaced with new pictures for comprehensiveness and freshness.

As promised in my post on usiri karam podi, I’m here today to share another recipe with amla, Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe, one of my favourite pickles on par with avakaya pachadi. When I found these awesome gooseberries in the Indian store, I couldn’t resist myself from making a small batch of the pickle.

What is Amla or Usirikaya?

Amla in Hindi or Usirikaya in Telugu is nothing but Indian Gooseberry. It is a rich source of Vitamin C and has many uses in Ayurvedic medicines because of its cooling, diuretic and laxative properties. It is also used along with several other herbs as an Ayurvedic tonic. Indian gooseberry or Amla as a fresh fruit or juice or in dried for is good for your health as a fresh fruit or juice or in dried form. Click here to know more about its health benefits.

Fresh amla fruit is used in make chutneys and relishes in India. Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe is very simple to prepare at home. The best part about this pickle is that you can store it for about an year. To be frank, I usually get my pickles stock from my mom but now when I make these for my blog, I’am super elated with the results.

When you want to eat amlas raw, the smaller variety of Amla tastes much better than the bigger ones because they are very sour. Once you start eating them, you can go on and on unlike the bigger ones. But to prepare pickles, Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe, the bigger variety are much suited especially when you want the shelf life to be long.

Extremely simple recipe requires very little prep time and makes for one satisfying pickle, keeps well for about an year….What else do you need?

Without further ado….let’s jump to Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe.

Easy Steps to follow for

Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe

The process for Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe involves 4 main steps:

1. Preparing required spice powders – Usually we have these powders ready once Summer season (pickling season) starts & make various pickles with these powders. They are all regular pantry ingredients & with a little bit of planning, pickles are soo easy to make!
2. Working with amlas and tamarind
3. Mixing the pickle
4. Finally Seasoning the pickle

Preparing spice powders for Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe:

The preparation of spice powders is the same as in Avakaya Pachadi, though the quantities may vary.

Red Chilli Powder or Pachi karam:

• Remove the stalks of dry red chillies, sun dry them for about 2 hours and grind to a fine powder.
• You can use the available chilli powder (pachi karam) at home or store bought one. I heard the brand three mangoes chilli powder is good for pickles.

Turmeric Powder:

• You can use regular turmeric powder which you use for daily cooking.

Fenugreek Powder:

• In a small pan, dry roast fenugreek seeds over medium heat till they start to change colour to a slightly darker shade of the original colour. But make sure not to burn them.
• Let the fenugreek seeds cool down.

• Once the roasted fenugreek seeds cool down, grind to a fine powder in a mixer and set aside for later use.

Mustard Powder:

• Grind the mustard seeds as it is to a fine powder (Do not roast them).

Working with amlas & tamarind

• Wash and pat dry each amla (usirikaya) with a soft cotton cloth.
• Make some incisions (cuts) vertically on each amla using a sharp knife.
• Set aside the oil you are going to use. You can use sesame seed oil for this pickle, which gives a nice flavour to the pickle. If you do not have, you can also use regular sunflower oil.

• Heat a little oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the amlas. Judge the amount of oil based on the quantity of amlas you are using. The amlas should just be coated with a little oil to shallow fry them.
• Simmer the heat, close the lid and fry slightly till the amlas starts to change colour.
• Turn off the heat  and remove them from pan so that they do not cook further due to the heat in the pan.
• Allow them to cool completely.

NOTE:

• When you gently press the amla, it should segment easily but not separate out. This is done so that the spices infuse well into the amlas and they are full of flavour.
• Take a close look at the amla in the picture below.

Tamarind Pulp:

• Soak tamarind in enough water just to immerse it.
• Cook over medium heat till it comes to a boil. Allow it to cool and then extract thick juice and discard the pulp. (Just like how you extract pulp for tamarind rice).

Mixing the pickle:

• These are all the ingredients you require to mix to the amlas.

• To the cooled down amlas in a bowl, add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, fenugreek powder, mustard powder and tamarind pulp.
• Give it a nice stir to mix well.

Seasoning the pickle:

• For the seasoning you will need:

• Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, channa dal, whole dry red chillies and peeled garlic pods. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter add asafoetida and curry leaves. Turn off the heat and let it cool down.
• Once the seasoning cools down completely, transfer the seasoning to the amla spice mixture and mix well.
• Close and let it sit for an hour. If you feel the pickle has absorbed all the oil, slightly heat up a few tablespoons of oil, cool down and add to the pickle and mix. This is to increase its shelf life.

• Transfer the Amla pickle (Usirikaya Pachadi) to a dry clean glass bottle.
• You can also eat it right away but the flavours infuse better if the pickle marinates for about 2 to 3 days before eating. Adjust salt if required.
• Serve with piping hot Rice and Ghee or enjoy it with curd rice.

Print Recipe

Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe | Amla Pickle Andhra Style | Indian Gooseberry Pickle

Spicy, tangy lip-smacking Usirikaya Pachadi Recipe - Amla Pickle Recipe prepared with amla aka Gooseberries tastes amazing when served with hot rice and ghee.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Author: Padma Veeranki

Ingredients

• 1 Kg Amla Usirikaya/Nellikai/Indian Gooseberry
• 50 ml Sesame Oil To sauté amlas
• 100 grams Tamarind
• 200 grams Red Chilli Powder
• 150 to 200 grams Salt adjust according to the sourness of the amlas
• 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 25 grams Fenugreek Powder
• 50 grams Mustard Powder

For seasoning:

• 250 ml Sesame oil Extra 100 ml for longer shelf life
• 2 tbsp Mustard seeds
• 2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
• 2 tbsp Channa dal Split Bengal Gram
• 10 Dry Red Chillies
• 20 Garlic Pods Peeled
• 1 tsp Asafoetida
• 3 Sprigs Curry Leaves

Instructions

• Wash and pat dry each amla with a soft cotton cloth.
• Make a few incisions vertically on each amla using a sharp knife.
• Heat a little oil in a pan over medium heat. Simmer & add the amlas, simmer and sauté over low heat till the amlas starts to change colour.
• Turn off the heat, remove to a bowl and let them cool down.

Mixing the pickle:

• To the cooled down amlas in a bowl, add red chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder, mustard powder, fenugreek powder, tamarind pulp and mix well. Add only 3/4th quantity of salt first. You can adjust next day.

Seasoning the Pickle:

• Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, channa dal, whole dry red chillies and peeled garlic pods. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter add asafoetida and curry leaves. Turn off the heat and let it cool down.
• Transfer the seasoning to the pickle and mix well.
• Transfer the pickle to a sterilised dry clean glass bottle.
• Let the pickle marinate for about 2 to 3 days before using.
• Serve with rice and ghee or curd rice.

Recipe Video

Notes

• Make sure you sauté the amlas well, otherwise it will spoil easily.
• The pickle lasts longer when refrigerated and I usually refrigerate to be on a safer side. 
• Adding more oil will increase the shelf life of the pickle. You may reduce oil only if making very small quantity and you think you will consume it in a month.
• You can increase or decrease the amount of garlic to suit your taste. I like to add more garlic.
• Always add a little less salt than mentioned in the recipe because you can even adjust it later. After the pickle marinates for 2 days, you can judge the salt accurately. Basically all this will also depend on how sour the amlas are.
• Always use a clean dry spoon when taking the pickle out of the jar. 
• The pickle tastes best when made with sesame oil. But you can also use any other neutral flavoured oil.
• The measurements are given for a large quantity, but if you want to make for smaller quantities, adjust all the ingredients accordingly.
• Please go through the detailed post if you are making pickles for the first time.

Do check out other Pickles & Karam Recipes and  other Chutney Recipes from blog!!

OTHER POPULAR PICKLE RECIPES ON BLOG:

• Mango Avakaya Pickle
• Instant Grated Mango Pickle
• Usiri Karam Podi
• Fresh Turmeric Pickle
• Chicken Pickle

Many more to come!!…..STAY TUNED!!

Hungry for more? Never miss a recipe!!…Subscribe to MasalaKorb and have posts delivered straight to your inbox! And connect with me on Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest  for all of the latest updates.

Do subscribe to my YouTube Channel  for latest video alerts!! 

If you cook this dish, be sure to tag your photo with this hashtag:  #masalakorb

Happy Cooking 

Cheers!!

Padma.