Lemon Pickle (South Indian style)

Homemade Lemon Pickle

This is my mother in law’s recipe. Every time she visits us, she makes a huge batch of lemon pickle and somehow it all gets over by the time she’s back next year! That’s how good it is! Its salty and acidic and the fragrance of the fresh lemons linger for a long time even after one year if properly maintained and more importantly if it lasts that long!

Lemons are just wonderfully fresh here where I live and are in season during the summer. They are just slightly sweet and fruity and incredibly juicy. Plus they are larger than Indian lemons, so I have used just 10 of them but if you are making it with smaller ones, you will need to double the quantity of lemons.

Ingredients

Lemons, large	10 approx
Salt	2 heaped Tbsp
Red chilly powder	2 Tbsp
Asafoetida	1 Tbsp
Turmeric	1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds	1.5   Tbsp
Oil	2 Ladles or ½ cup
Mustard Seeds	1 Tbsp

  Sugar                                                                    1 tsp

Method 

Chop the lemons into cube sized pieces and remove the seeds. Then add the cut lemon pieces to a large wide vessel with slit green chillies. You can omit the chillies but I like to add them for that unique flavor. If skipping the green chillies you can increase the red chilly powder slightly to get the required heat. Add all the salt.

 I actually had to stop making this at the time as it was late at night so I left the lemons marinating in the salt. It was all macerated by the morning with all the juices flowing and the lemons slightly tender. This made the cooking process too way easier.

Dry roast the fenugreek seeds in medium flame by being careful not to burn them. Trust me, this would not be ideal as fenugreek seeds by itself are slightly bitter. While switching off the flame add the turmeric in and give one stir. Grind this into a reasonably fine powder and set aside. In fact you can also add some fresh dried red chillies by roasting it the pan and then grinding it.

In a wide pan, add the oil and heat it. Add the mustard seeds and allow it to pop. Add the asafetida and let it slightly cook in the hot oil.

Then add the lemon pieces with all the juices. Give the mix and big stir and add in the red chilly powder. Now let it cook covered on medium low flame, stirring it once a while.

This is for the lemon pieces to cook together and become gel like. Once its thickened nicely, the cooking process is done. At this stage add the ground fenugreek powder and give it a mix.

Store them in clean and DRY (most important) containers once it is cool. You will need to add oil just so the mix is covered in oil. Use a clean spoon to serve pickle every time. Add the sugar in too, this is to cut the acidity of the lemons.

This pickle will get better if stored for a few days before tasting it. By then the salt and red chilly powder would have been absorbed by the lemons and will be infused to give that phenomenal taste! I have always stored this pickle in bottles in the refrigerator and have had no problems in maintaining it fresh for more than a year. It gets better with time!

I know these days most people buy pickles outside. For me I am old school who prefers home made pickles mainly because I don’t like the preservatives smell and taste in store bought pickles. Plus the salt content in them is high too so I prefer them home made. This way you can customize it the way you want plus you can make it organic!

Serve the pickle with rotis, curd rice or just plain yogurt. Need I say more? Enjoy!!

Tips

• More than making this pickle, storing it is key to prolong its shelf life. For that it is absolutely essential that it is stored in clean, dry containers as moisture aids the growth of bacteria and mould.
• Add enough oil to keep the pickle immersed in oil while storage. You can easily just add the pickle minus the oil while serving it.
• If for any reason, you see a while film over the pickle, take it out as much as possible. Then give the pickle a good stir so the surface is coated in oil again. In the rare times that this has happened to me, I end up changing the container that I stored it in.