Cookbook:Lemon Pickle I

Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes | Cuisine of India

Lemon Pickle I
Category	Indian recipes
Servings	about a litre of pickle
Time	preparation: 20 minutes fermentation: 1 to 2 months

Lemon pickle is a traditional condiment used with Indian food. Many pickle recipes from India have oil to help preserve the pickle, but this recipe uses no oil.

Ingredients

• lemons - 12 small or 6 large (thin skins preferred)
• juice of 1 large or 2 small lemons
• ½ cup of salt
• ¼ cup of red chili powder
• ½ cup of sugar
• 3 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp fenugreek seed
• 1 tsp black mustard seed
• ¼ tsp asafoetida powder (omit for gluten-free version)

Procedure

Preparation

1. Wash the lemons and dry them well, leaving no water on the lemons. Trim off the stalk and any odd bits.
2. Cut the lemons in to small pieces about 2 cm / ¾ inch on each side, and place in a bowl.
3. Dry-roast the fenugreek, black mustard and asafoetida together in a pan on a medium heat for about 5 minutes. Don't burn them!
4. Grind the roasted spices in a grinder, or a mortar and pestle.
5. Add the ground spices, turmeric powder, salt, sugar and chili powder to the bowl and mix together well.
6. Pack the mixture into a 2 litre (2 quart) jar, or use a couple of smaller jars. Don't fill quite to the top - allow at least 1 cm space.

Fermentation

Sit the jar where it will get the heat of the sun. Bring the jar inside in the evening, and put it back out in the morning. Do this for at least a month in summer, two months in winter. The warmth of the sun will help the pickle to ferment.

Notes, tips and variations

• Don't worry about the amount of sugar in the recipe, because it will be fermented away over time.
• Asafoetida powder generally has wheat flour added to it, to help it flow well. You can omit this ingredient if you want to make it gluten-free.

External links

• Lemon Pickle without cooking, the inspiration for this recipe
• Making Lemon Pickle Recipes