Nellikkai saadham/ Amla rice

Amla Rice is a very heart-warming, easy to do, delicious, nutritionally loaded rice that can be had as a meal with something as humble as a papad or raitha to a poricha kootu.

Ingredients:

Amla ( big ones)                                           7 nos
Brown Rice  or white rice                              2 cups (cooked)
Lemon / Lemon juice                                    1 nos / 2 tsp
Salt                                                              As needed


To temper

Oil                                                              1 tblspn
Mustard seeds                                              1/2 tsp
Curry leaves                                                 1 sprig
Kadalai paruppu/Chana dhal                           1 tsp
Green chillies                                                3 nos split into 2 pieces each


Method

1.) Grate amlas and discard the seeds. If using frozen amlas thaw it overnight in the refrigerator or keeping it at room temperature for a night.
2.) Take a large stir fry pan and heat. Add oil and mustard seeds to splutter.
3.) Add kadalai paruppu/Chana dhal and fry until golden borwn. Add green chillies and fry till change in colour. Add curry leaves to splutter.
4.) Add the amla gratings to fry it for a little longer than a minute. Add salt to it.
5.) Remove it from the stove and add juice from one full lemon or add a tsp of lemon juice.
6.) Add cooked rice and mix well. Leave it for 5 minutes for the flavours to infuse,

Nellikkai saadham/ Amla rice is ready. It is a quick to make and a tangy-yummy rice that can be had with just appalam, vadaam/vathal, or it makes an awesome combo with avarakkai poricha  kootu.

My special tip would be to request you to use brown sona masoori rice for this recipe, as the taste of this amla rice is great with brown rice and the white one.

For more information:

My experiments with brown rice Part 1

My experiments with brown rice - Part 2

My experiments with brown rice - Epilogue

Nellikkai thogayal/ Amla coarse chutney

Nellikkai thogayal is a tangy thogayal that is very refreshing in its taste. One can't reiterate the nutritonal bonus that comes with nellikkai/Amla. It is very easy to make this thogayal.

Nellaikai thogayal

Ingredients:

Amla /Nellikkai                                  200 gms (big ones)

Red chillies                                        5-6 nos depending on the spice level

Thuvaram paruppu/Toor dhal               2 tblspns

Ulutham paruppu/ Urad dhal                3 tblspns

Kadalai paruppu/Chana dhal                 3 tblspns

Asafoetida                                          1 pinch

Salt                                                    As needed

Oil                                                     3 tsps

Method

1. Cut nellikkai/amla to small pieces and discard the seeds. If using frozen amla, place it in the fridge from freezer for a night to thaw and then it can be used . I have used frozen amla here.

Cut nellikkai/ Amla

2.  Take a stir fry pan , add oil in it, add all the dhals/paruppus and red chillies and asafoetida powder  and heat in medium flame .

Paruppus and milagai for thogayal

3.) Add cut nellikkai and mix well and let it cook until the dhals turn golden brown and nellikkai/amla is cooked soft ( but not too soft)

Everything together

4.  Grind everything together with salt to a coarse paste adding very little water as soon below. Nellikkai thogayal is ready.

Nellikkai thogayal

It can be had with hot rice mixing it with nallennai/sesame seed oil. It tastes great with any poricha kootu and appalam.