Masala Cherry (Gooseberries) Recipe
What do you do when you have bundles of sour cherries (Phyllanthus acidus) and need to process them before they spoil? Well, you can make wine, chow, preserved cherries, and our latest concoction; masala cherry. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought of masala cherry. Yes, you heard me correctly. Masala cherry is prepared just like you would prepare masala mango or pommecythere. This masala cherry is my mother’s idea put forward when the cherry tree (gooseberry) became laden with sour cherries and the branch broke under the weight lol :).
Sour Cherries for Masala Cherry
Sour cherries are really sour and may not be a favourite for many people in its natural state – unless you really enjoy having them with salt and pepper like me. Nevertheless, when cooked it can be very delicious. Boy did I have a time with this. It was no longer just a condiment but an all out snack. We ate it like you would eat sweet cherries while watching T.V. A spoon at a time savouring the marriage of sweet and sour wrapped in a cool burn. That could probably explain why it disappeared from the fridge so quickly lol.
The only downside for me was the frequent stopping to spit out the seeds. Maybe someone should make a de-seeding machine for gooseberries; That would sure work even more wonders for this dish. And, I wouldn’t have to interrupt my time enjoying the masala cherries to spit out seeds or crunching down on a seed unintentionally. Here’s masala cherry (gooseberries)
- MASALA CHERRY
- 5 cups sour cherries (gooseberries), scalded
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tbs oil
- 1 tbs pepper sauce or to taste
- 3 tbs sugar
- 1 tbs salt
- 3 tbs Amchar Masala
- water
Heat oil, saute garlic until golden.
Add cherries…
pepper….
and amchar masala.
Then add salt and sugar. Stir.
Add 1/4 cup water cook for 5 minutes or until cherries are tender and forms a slurry.
Remove from heat. Leave to cool then pour into sterilized bottles and refrigerate.
Absolutely delicious!
So, are you salivating as yet? Well you ought to be lol Hope you liked my masala cherry recipe.
Ah gone