Cookbook:Lemon Pickle II

Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes | Cuisine of India

Lemon Pickle II
Category	Indian recipes
Servings	about a pint of pickle
Time	preparation: 20 minutes maturing: 1 month

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 - 8 small or 4 large
• ½ cup of salt
• ¼ - ½ cup of sugar
• 4 small green chilis
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tsp fenugreek seed
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 - 2 star anise

Procedure

1. Cut lemons into small pieces, and place in a bowl.
2. Cover with salt and set aside for at least 4 hours (better 24!)
3. Chop the chilis finely.
4. Dry-roast the yellow mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, star anise, and chopped chilis on a high heat, shaking constantly - don't burn them!
5. Strain the juice from the lemons into a small saucepan, add the turmeric, ginger and sugar, and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. If there isn't enough juice, add a tablespoon or two of water.
6. Add the spices and sugar mixture to the bowl of lemons, and mix together well.
7. Pack into a pint jar, pressing the pieces in if needed, to ensure that the liquid covers all the lemon pieces.
8. Set aside to mature for 1 month.

Notes, tips and variations

• If you don't have fresh chilis, add some dried chilis or chili powder. The pickle in the photo has three whole dried chilis in it.