Raaz Avalyache Jam ~ Star Gooseberry Preserve

 

Its been almost a month since we returned from India and getting back to the grind has been so very hard. Post-vacation hangover would be the right way to put it I guess 🙁 Anyway, to top it off this time I returned almost empty handed, in the sense that I didn’t come back loaded with ingredients. Since almost everything is available here in Dubai (and plus I have tons of unused stuff from last year’s haul) I decided to only bring the absolute must-have’s in a Mangalorean cook’s kitchen – turmeric leaves and bimblis  (botanical name: Averrhoa Bilimbi). This year however, I did bring back a few star gooseberries (Phyllanthus Acidus) which I planned to preserve in sugar syrup. My mother in law gave me some instructions on how to make this preserve and since I had prepared several varieties of jams before this one was super easy to make. 

Raaz avaley as we call them in Konkani are a variety of gooseberries that have ribs along their surface, a cross section of which would reveal in a rough star shape. These fruits are pale yellow or yellowish green in colour and are crisp and sour when you bite into them. I have the fondest memories of picking the fruit for my grandma who would then make the preserve. Sometime she would pickle them, the recipe of which I hope to get from her soon. When pickles and preserves were made and the tree would still have some more of its bounty to offer us, we would sit with a pile and enjoy them, sometimes sprinkled with a little salt. 

 

 

From the fruit to its leaves, this plant is used medicinally. While the fruit is eaten as a blood enhancer for the liver, the leaves are used to make a poultice to treat sciatica, lumbago and rheumatism, the seeds are used as a cathartic and roots as purgative (courtesy: wikipedia). With so many health benefits its about time you plucked those fruits and ate them fresh (if you have the tree!) or just make this preserve and enjoy them for a longer time!