Amla saru (Nellikayi saru)

This is a recipe I picked up from aayi’s or SIL’s recipe book. Can’t recall from which one exactly. I think they got it from a recipe show. It looked so good that, I had to try it. I used frozen gooseberrys(amla/nellikayi). I changed the recipe to include a garlic seasoning and also used tamarind to give it a tangy taste. It came out very good. It had a distinct amla taste. It tastes great even when eaten like soup.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup toor dal
3 amlas
3/4 cup onion
A pinch turmeric
1 tea spn sarina pudi or any spice powder (I used ready made curry powder that I had)
1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
1/2 tea spn urad dal
1 tea spn chopped garlic
2 red chilies
1/4 tea spn tamarind extract or 2-3 pieces of tamarind
3-4 curry leaves
3-4 pepper
Oil/ghee
Salt

Method:
Cook toor dal with turmeric, 1/4 cup onion, 2 amlas cut into small pieces(discard the seed). Amlas are very hard to cut, so you can cook them first in cooker and then cut them.
Heat oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, 1/2 tea spn garlic, remaining onion, pieces of remaining 1 amla, curry leaves, pepper. Fry till the onions turn translucent. Now add the spice powder. Grind to a paste along with tamarind and salt.
Add the ground paste to the cooked toor dal mixture. Add salt and bring it to boil. Take off heat.
Heat ghee and add remaining 1/2 tea spn garlic. Add red chilies cut into pieces and pour over the saru.
Serve with hot rice.

Serves : 3-4
Preparation time : 20 mins

15 thoughts on “Amla saru (Nellikayi saru)”

  1. Never heard of this saru before. Looks tempting. I liked the new copper vessel in the picture. We get fresh aavalo here sometimes. Will surely try this one soon.

  2. is saru same as dal ?

    Shilpa: Sandeepa, In Konkani, Saru is usually a thin rasam type dishes. In Kannada cuisine, I have seen sarus which are slightly thicker than rasams. They may or may not contain dal

  3. wow, you used gooseberries to make dal? that’s an interesting idea. I like the serving dish…. i cannot find it here in Sweden.

    Shilpa: Zlamushka, I could not find them here in US too. I got this one from India during my recent trip. My mom simply loves them and I have also developed the love recently. They look very cute 🙂

  4. I’ve been pondering amla the last few days! Amla pickles are among my favorites, and I’ve been using the powder for more than my hair lately. 🙂 I’ll be looking for the frozen berries so I can try this delicious-looking saru…interesting!

  5. Hi Shilpa,
    Just back from India and was busy clearing up the mess and attending some guests too. Had some amlas in the refrigerator and wanted to have a simple dish today. Found this recipe, tried it and it turned out to be different and yummy. My daughter enjoyed it too.
    Thanks.

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