For the second day in Blogging Marathon #31 under the theme Microwave cooking, I made this simple rice with Gooseberries…


With an abundance of Goose berries from the back yard, it is only fair to put it to good use. I made some pickle and sweet preserve with the Gooseberries and used some to a make this rice. I am still left with a whole batch of Gooseberries and I don’t have a clue as to how to use them up before they go waste…

This recipe is inspired from Gayathri’s version and I have made a few changes to the original recipe….

I used:

Rice – 1/2 cup
Gooseberries – 15 numbers [Adjust to taste.Some varieities are very tart.]
Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
Red chilies- 2, broken
Urad dal- 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves- a few
Gingelly / Sesame  oil- 1 teaspoon[You can use any other vegetable oil too]
Flax seeds chutney powder– 2 teaspoons
Salt to taste

  1. Wash and soak rice for half an hour.Wash and drain the water. In a large microwave proof bowl, take rice and 1 1/4 cups of water[ or a little less than the quantity of water that you use to cook your variety of rice] and cover and microwave on high for 10 minutes or till the rice is done.Allow a standing time of 5 minutes. Remove from microwave and spread on a plate to cool.
  2. Grate the gooseberries and keep aside.
  3. In a large microwave safe bowl, take oil, mustard, red chillies, urad dhal,curry leaves and mix well. Close the bowl but leave a small gap. Microwave on medium for 2 minutes or till the dal browns a bit.
  4. Put in the grated gooseberry and the gooseberry juice [if there is some while you grated the gooseberry] , mix and microwave covered on medium for 5 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes.
  5. Add the flax seed chutney powder,salt [ add just half the normal quantity as the chutney powder also has salt, check after cooking and add more if needed] and the cooked rice. Mix well and microwave on medium covered for 5 minutes. Let it stand for a few minutes inside the microwave.
  6. Remove from the MW and serve with raita / curry and pappad..

Note :

The cooking time will vary depending on the MW and the quantity. So adjust it accordingly.

Also take a look at the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM #31

This Day That Year

2012 – Batter Fried Potato

2010 – Kootu Podi

Bon Appetit…

16 thoughts on “Microwave Aranellikkai Sadham | Gooseberry Rice”

  1. Never made rice with goose berry….and don't waste these you could prickthem with a fork, immerse them in salted water, add a pinch of turmeric, leave it for a day..change water the next day with salt and turmeric…leave it for 2 days and they will be ready to eat..just like that.they will last for a few days, once ripe you could keep them in frig.

  2. I don't know about such dish ! Once I was running out of tomatoes and added some gooseberry in my regular peas pulav , the taste was good.
    Now I know the actual name and method of this dish ! Thanks for sharing!

  3. ara nellikai is my favorite. We used to have a tree in my backyard at home. Missing these tart and sweet ones here. Nice use of them in the rice.

  4. I love the taste of nellikai and my mouth is watering looking at the picture of it!! Tangy, sour and it tastes so sweet and pleasant when you drink a glass of water later….

    Rice with nellikai is a new one for me, I guess it will be great because of the tangy taste to it ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. This type of gooseberry tree was there in my husband's home.. but in my rare thought itself, i never had this recipe in mind.. very innovative… i am thinking how it will taste..

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