To eat or not to eat? That is the question.....
In this blog I went to Asian Food Centre literally a minute walk from my home in Brampton. This location was recently opened on October 2nd 2015 and this was my first time going inside (although it’s right up the street). I decided to go there not only because it was close to home but also because it’s called Asian Food Centre I figured it they catered more towards the Asian community so I knew I would be able to find something different. From what I saw looking around the store, they sell mainly Indian food.
The purpose of this assignment was to find a fruit that I have never tried before and also that I’m not familiar with. Fast forward……Once inside I walked around for a bit then I went to the fruits and vegetables section where I came across a round, small, green fruit with the name ‘Fresh Alma’ posted above it. I saw a couple more unfamiliar ones’ but this one stood out to me because of how it looked.
The amla fruit, also known as the Indian gooseberry is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. Although it is referred to as the Indian gooseberry, it is botanically unrelated to alma. It is only referred to as the Indian gooseberry because of its similarity in appearance to the common gooseberry and fruit cluster. Rightfully the amla fruit is a part of the botanical family known as Phyllanthus emblica. It is available during the winter seasons, October-April and can be purchased for roughly $2.79 per/lb.
By performing a sensory evaluation this fruit will be considered ‘Fresh Fruity’, according to the flavour thesaurus. Makes sense why it was advertised as ‘Fresh Amla’ in the store, right?
I had the opportunity to speak with two customers and an employee of the store who are actually from India and I took that chance to ask a few questions about the fruit. They had advised me that the alma fruit is used a lot for medicinal purposes. It can also be juiced, steamed in a pressure cooker, pickled to your preference or dried in sunlight and grind to make spice. It may be consumed raw but it is very sour and known to have an acquired taste to others.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to speak with them much longer to get a recipe from them directly so I searched for one and came across a recipe. It is Raw Mango and Gooseberry Rice (Mavinakayi Nellikai Chitranna) created by Chef Naren Thimmaiah at one of the top restaurants in Bangalore at The Gateway Hotel named Karavalli and the recipe goes as follow…
Wash and soak rice for 10 to 15 minutes.
Cook rice in draining method. Let it cool.
Remove seeds from gooseberries and cut them in fine pieces.
Remove the outer skin of mangoes and cut them in fine pieces.
Slit green chillies into two pieces.
Heat oil in a thick bottom pan and crackle mustard seeds.
Add Channa dal, urad dal and cashew nuts. Fry until they turn light golden. Add slit green chillies, curry leaves and fry well. Add chopped gooseberries and raw mangoes, fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add turmeric powder, salt and mix.
Cover and cook on low flame for 6-8 minutes.Let the mixture cool.Add cooked rice to the mashed mixture and mix well.Season according to your taste.
Key Ingredients: rice, Indian gooseberry, salt, oil, curry leaves, mustard seeds, black gram, Bengal gram, cashew nuts, green chillies, mango, turmeric
I can honestly say that if it were not for this assignment I probably would not have come across this fruit. I did purchase a few to try and I must say they were not wrong at all it is sour and you will have to have an acquired taste for this fruit and I will not be eating it again, well not in that raw form. Maybe when I try it in a recipe, maybe one like above I will say otherwise. This has opened me up to different foods and the idea of just going out there and try different things instead of what i’m use to which will be very helpful and I’m sure rewarding in my career.
http://www.allayurveda.com/herb_month_december2013.asp
http://www.fruitipedia.com/Amla.htm
http://www.flavourthesaurus.com
http://theindianvegan.blogspot.ca/2012/09/all-about-amla.html
http://food.ndtv.com/recipe-mavinakayi-nellikai-chitranna-raw-mango-gooseberry-rice-687864
http://www.thegatewayhotels.com/residency-road-bangalore/restaurants.html
