Nellikai Rasam | Amla / Indian Gooseberry rasam

Nellikai rasam is sure a nutritious rasam with the goodness of amla also known as Indian gooseberry. I was totally surprised by it's taste, check it out.

When nellikai is in season, or you want to include in your diet in various ways, try it out.

Looking for more nellikai recipes? Check out this nellikai juice recipe, nellikai thayir pachadi recipe and nellikai sadam recipe.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Substitutions
• Video
• Variations
• Top tip
• Storage
• Recipe card
• Instructions

Ingredients

With ingredients in your pantry, easily.

• Nellikkai (Indian gooseberry or Amla), De seeded, chopped roughly.
• Black pepper
• Cumin seeds
• Garlic
• Green chilli
• Cooked toor dal/ Dal water

See recipe card for quantities.

Substitutions

Here are some suggested substitutions in case you are looking for

• Garlic - If you want to make this satvik, you can skip garlic and use ginger instead.
• Green chilli - Skip it and just use 3-4 spicy red chilli while tempering.
• Toor dal - Toor dal water or cooked toor dal diluted with water is used in this recipe. If in case you don't have, feel free to skip it.
• Ghee - Use sesame oil if you want to make it vegan.

Video

Is video more your thing? Watch quick video in my Youtube channel

Variations

This recipe is as such pretty straight forward and turns out perfect. But you can adapt your own method of making rasam and just omit tamarind in the recipe.

Because the tangy and astringent taste in Nellikai is enough. Not even tomato is needed in this recipe.

• Spicy - Depending on chilli variety, nature of nellikai, how spicy you want, you can increase or decrease chilli number. Or increase black pepper to 1 tbsp.

See this selvau rasam recipe on my website! (placeholder for in-content link)

Top tip

For perfect flavor, pepper, cumin and garlic should be ground coarsely. Never grind it too much, as the flavor will be totally different and over powering!

Do not let the rasam boil, let it begin to boil and switch off stove. If it boils, the taste will differ and have too strong garlic flavor.

I use my Panasonic mixie (Affiliate link)

Storage

Suggest to finish off the rasam within a day (you can have it as a drink if there is some leftover)

I have not tried storing the leftover rasam, so not sure about it.

Recipe card

Instructions

1. Get the ingredients needed ready firstly. Note that we need cooked toor dal or dal water for the rasam ready.

Take chopped nellikai in a mixie and blend well with ½ cup water.

2. Add black pepper, cumin seeds and garlic to it.

3. Use pulse option in the mixie to give 2-3 runs. Do not powder it too fine as flavor will be strong.

4. Take the ground mixture in a vessel and add 2 & ½ cups water to it.

5. Add turmeric, asafoetida and mix well. Switch on the stove.

6. Add required with more water to adjust consistency.

7. Then add salt to it.

8. Mix well.

9. Let it just come to boil and frothy. Switch off stove immediately.

10. Temper with ghee and ingredients given under 'To temper'.

11. Add it to rasam.

12. Garnish with lots of coriander leaves and close the lid.

Serve with appalam and vegetable side dish like poriyal or curry. We had it with carrot beans poriyal.