Lemon Pickle | Lemon preserve South Indian Style

We , Indians love pickle. Across the country , you get to taste variety of pickles, be it with roti or with rice. Often the pickling ingredients remain the same while the main ingredient differs from state to state with the availability of fresh produce.Also, one can notice the intensity of heat in a pickle increases from North to South.From a simple household meal to that of a royal restaurant feast, every meal includes at least one pickle.

My grandma is just an expert in cooking and she excels when it comes to pickles. Cut mango pickle and poodu orrugai (garlic pickle ) are my favorite picks among all other varieties.Knowing our love towards these pickles, she would walk all the way to our house carrying a small jar of pickles whenever she makes some. While these pickles being tasty to the buds it also aids in digestion by increasing the secretion of saliva, she used to tell us.

Usually , they make pickles in bulk in oorugai parani (tall pickling jar ) and tightly cover with a white cloth and a lid ,with mustard, turmeric and fenugreek being natural preservatives .We, kids aren't allowed to go near it.For day to day servings, there will be a small jar of pickle and that too with a strict protocol( clean hands, long  and dry wooden ladles).

I prefer homemade pickle than a store bought one.Often, the reason being you get the control over the salt in take and also get to eat fresh and preservative free pickles.This lime pickle goes well with rice, dosa, uthappam, upma and paratha . My favorite combo is creamy curd rice (thayir saadham ) and this pickle. You can see this from my pictures.

Ingredients

Lemon .............................. 6 , fresh and juicy, ( I used US  lemons, if using Indian variery,10 lemons)
REd chilli powder ............... 4 tsp ( or adjust to your spice level)
Fenugreek seeds.................  3/4 tsp
Turmeric ..........................  1 tsp
Salt .................................. 3 tsp (adjust to your need)
Mustard seeds .................... 1 tsp
Asafetida ........................... 1 tsp
Sesame Oil ......................... 3 tbsp

Method

• Wash and dry the lemons .Cut them to bite size pieces discarding the seeds.
• In a clean glass bowl , mix salt and trumeric along with lemon pieces.
• Keep it tightly covered for 3 days, just giving a gentle mix everyday.
• After 3 days , you will notice lot more liquid than it was in day 1.
• In a pan, dry roast the fenugreek seeds to golden brown and grind it to a fine powder.
• Add the fenugreek powder, red chilli powder and asafetida and mix well.
• Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
• Once the mustard crackles, take off the pan and allow the oil to come to room temperature.
• Pour it over the prepared pickle and transfer it into a glass jar / bottle.
• It takes a week to 10 days to get ready.

Notes

• For longer shelf life, refrigerate it.
• Always use a clean ,dry  wooden spoon.
• If you can't get sesame oil, you can choose canola / vegetable oil.