Amla



Amla berries (fruit) aka Indian gooseberries and amalaki. 

I agree, they do look like gooseberries, albeit big gooseberries roundabout the size of a walnut. 

Amla is something I was first introduced to in Bali, a solo trip I haven't written about yet--a week of yoga, jamu, Nyepi, and batik. The best word to describe that trip is regenerative. I came back feeling relaxed, restored, and healthier than I've felt in quite some time, only to be hit with my second bout of Covid. Go figure.

During the trip, one of my jamu teachers took me on a tour of his sample garden, a smaller scale version of his organic farm where he can show people many plants in a small space. He grows different kinds of herbs, spices, flowers, and fruits, and he showed me purple, black, yellow, and white turmerics. I tasted cinnamon barks cut straight from the tree (punchy and delicious). And he off-handedly pointed out an amla tree, one that's newer to him but that is apparently a "miracle tree" in India. 

After the trip, I dove into a different Indian superfood, moringa leaves, using them in pesto and savory, cheddary muffins. This week, I was back in Little India and came across amla berries at a few shops and decided to get a proper introduction. 

The benefits of amla are wide ranging and it's perhaps best known for its high vitamin C content (many say it has 20x the vitamin C content as an orange) and antioxidant activity. It's used in Ayurveda to support immunity, cardiovascular systems, and digestive health. A paper published by the National Institutes of Health lists the following potential benefits:
  • Antioxidant
  • Cardioprotective
  • Antidiabetic
  • Anticancer
  • Anti-inflammatory
  • Neuroprotective
  • Gastrointestinal protective
That sounds promising enough to try. 



The amla fruits I picked up from the market were firm with a texture like an unripe apple. (Maybe these weren't quite ripe? I'm on a learning curve.) Cutting the seed out took some doing since the fruit is so solid. The flavor is bitter/sour, and it's not something I enjoyed raw. I found a recipe for amla juice from Swasthi's Recipes, the only amla recipe to pop up with quite a few ratings (and good ones!). Two tablespoons felt like a lot of honey for one glass of juice, so I added just one. 


I should have followed her instructions and added two tablespoons of honey as one was not enough to dress up the flavor. I ended up forcing it down. I also thought I'd leave the pulp in after blending it, and get the full range of benefits from the fruit. Also a bad idea. The mouthful of pulp was not conducive to stomaching this concoction, so I did end up following her instructions to strain it out. 

While it may be a superfood, it's not super tasty. Time to do a wider search for other recipes to try. 

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