Amla

Amla is a small to medium deciduous tree of tropical and southern Asia whose nearly round, light greenish-yellow fruit is sour, bitter, astringent and fibrous. The fruit is rich in vitamin C and is eaten raw or cooked, pickled in South Asia with salt, oil and spices, or candied in sugar syrup as amle ka murabbah. Ayurveda uses the dried and fresh fruit as a common ingredient. In Hinduism the tree, called amalaka in Sanskrit, is sacred to all three of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva; legend says the first emblic trees grew where tears fell from Lakshmi and Parvati as each wished to worship the other's husband. Buddhist tradition has many references to the fruit, including the half fruit that Ashoka gave to the sangha as his last gift.