Lemon pickle

Pickle is a very essential part of our Indian meal and we South Indians enjoy our pickle with curd rice as a last leg of our meal, which will tickle and will remain for some time in our taste bud with its right amount of salt, spice, sour, tangy and tartness.

This particular pickle is the non-oily, south Indian style, which I learnt from my mom. This has lemon, green chillies and ginger and goes very well with curd rice.

Ingredients:

Lemons – 15

Ginger – 50 Gms

Green chillies – 5

Salt – ¾ cup

Water – 1 ½ to 2 cups.

Masala:

Dried red chillies – 28 -30

Mustard – 2 tbl sp.

Hing – peanut size

Fenugreek – 1 tsp

Cumin – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Oil- 1 to 1 ½ tsp

Method:

• Wash lemon, ginger and green chillies. Pat dry and chop however you like it.
• Boil water and salt together.
• When salt is dissolved and thin layer of glassy effects comes on the upper layer of the water, it is ready.

• Drop all the chopped items to this. Boil till lemon rind becomes pale. Switch off and keep this for cooling.
• Gradually while cooling, lemon rind will wilts and rind will fold backwards, don’t worry. It will become normal once it is set.
• Next we will prepare pickle masala.
• Dry roast mustard until it pops, remove and keep aside.
• Take one teaspoon of oil, roast fenugreek, cumin, hing one by one and keep it aside.
• Lastly fry red chillies until it forms crisp with very little oil.
• Cool everything, make powder all these by adding turmeric.

• When salted lemon cools down, add this masala, mix together and store this in an air tight bottle.
• After 10 days, you can use this.
• I suggest to store this in a fridge,so that its shelf life will be one year or more.

NOTE:

– If you want a little thicker consistency take one and half cup of water. If you wish to get a thin consistency take 2 cups of water.

-Here I have taken 2 cups of water.