Friday, June 29, 2007

Lemon Pickle with garlic and green chilies

Seeing these lovely Lemon Pickle on Manisha's Indian Food Rocks and to redeem myself after DB left behind a bottle of DH's mom's lemon pickle (they are the best lemon pickle ever)back because they started to leak oil and once he left them back at the airport because of overweight(are you reading this bro?). This terrible crime (atleast in DH's mind) would not go forgiven unless amends are made, how? make some Lemon Pickle ofcourse. I found a bag of limes in the grocery store, and was all set to follow Manisha's but my mom had other ideas. She was anxious to make amends for her son's sins (well... hmmmm I am exaggerating for drama!!!) and I did not want to stand in the way. When we finally got to taste the pickle DH - I am sure completely forgave the offender(I did not check with him though!).


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Lemon Pickle with garlic and green chilies
Ingredients
1. 15 limes
2. 6 garlic clove chopped
3. 10 Green Chillies
4. 1/4 Cup Salt
5. 1/4 Cup Sesame Oil (nalla ennai)

To Powder
1. 1/2 Cup Red chillies
2. 2 tsp methi seeds
3. 1 tsp mustard seeds
roast 2 and 3 and combined with the dried red chillies and make a powder
OR
1/4 Cup Pickle Masala Powder


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Cooking in the window sill



Lime Prep
1. Boil pot of water, add 3 tbsp of sugar. Remove from fire add the limes(whole) cover with a lid and let it stand for 10 minutes, it changes color from green to yellow.
2. Remove from water wait for them to cool, wipe dry and cut each into 4 pieces.

Method
1. In a clean glass jar add the limes, garlic and chillies and salt
2. Place a cloth on the mouth and secure with a rubber band. Let it sit in the sun for 2-3 days. (the longer they stand the softer the outer skin and less bitter)
3. Set about 3 tbsp of water to boil.
4. In a Kadai (pan) heat oil, add mustard seeds and to that add the lime mixture and chilli powder and mix well.
4. Add the boiling water to this and reduce the heat to medium.
5. When the oil start to leave the edges switch off the heat.


Pickle is ready and all is well in the household again like a big happy family. It was delightful to bite into a garlic or green chilli. DB is free to visit any time now.

19 comments:

  1. ur poor bro! c'mon forgive him and eat pickle!:)couldn't help smiling at the story.

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  2. The Lime prep step is really interesting - must make the limes very juicy. Your spice mix proportions are much closer to the way my MIL would make hers, and the pickle is looking glorious. I've put some to make in a jar too - but the monsoons are on time and there is no sun!

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  3. Shaheen if you say so! I will forgive him.

    Anita, if you do it this way, you don't need to cook it in the sun, just leave it for a few more days for the juices to blend in. I had the cooking in the sun conversation while making the pickle and she mentioned that she cooked it during the rains as well and just left it to sit for about 8 days.

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  4. my mouth is watering as i admire the lime pickle. gotta' get some sesame oil, any other oil won't work in this, or will it?

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  5. Richa, I am not sure but the smell and taste of Sesame oil is a must for this pickle (or any other pickle).

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  6. Everybodys into pickles these days. Donno when I will be motivated to make one. Probably those empty pickle jars??!!

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  7. lime pickle ...wow!!mouthwatering ....this is also most the same way that my mother in law prepares

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  8. I am set to make some of this soon too :) Yours looks so good. The pic has me drooling.

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  9. Hi ...This is my first time to your blog and I immensely enjoyed it...went through your recipes and all are so nice, esp your simple lunch series look so tempting...

    Srivalli
    www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com

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  10. mouth watering pickle.mmm yum yum yummy!!!

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  11. Delicious looking pickles ISG! Another great recipe from you and your mom -- and glad everyone's happy again ;)

    Next time I will try this way!

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  12. Wow! Since my pickles are all gone - gifted away - I am all set to make my next batch. And I so love this idea! Will let you know how it turns out. :-D

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  13. Manisha let me know how they turn out. I am getting ready to try it your way.

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  14. ISG, should the limes cool completely before you cut them? I found it a little difficult to quarter the limes. When the knife made the first cut, juice squirted out from the lime and the peel sort of caved in making it difficult to cut. So I held them over the jar as I pierced the skin to collect the juices and then cut them in halves. I may quarter them once they have softened further. I hope I didn't mess up!

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  15. Manisha, you did not mess up. Moms says either way the juice would squirt out and yes you should be collecting them. You can wait for them to cool before cutting them. I'll update the post with this info.

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  16. Hey thanks! They are now sitting out in the sun. I can't wait!

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  17. This sounds fascinating... I got this link from Manisha... I got a minor emergency going. i've had sunkist lemons vegetating in the fridge for 2 weeks now, and i want to pickle them. will this work with lemons?? as I type, they're bobbing in a large pot of boiled sugared water... HAAAAAAALLLLPPPP
    if it's not too much trouble, could you shoot me an SOS with all gyaan at vidya[dot]blog@gmail[dot]com
    and also, my green chillis are frozen too... how do I do this??
    thanks in advance

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  18. Hello, Manisha (of Indian Food Rocks) sent me to your recipe for lime pickle because I want to make some pickle that is ready in a shorter amount of time than hers. (I'm making her recipe too!)

    This looks yummy. I'm wondering about while the pickles are sitting in the sun. Her recipe has an tight lid and an Indian guy at work told me that when his wife makes nimboo acchaar they too keep it tightly covered.

    Your directions say to cover with a cloth. Is it important that your pickles breathe? Or does it matter since they won't be out for such a long time?

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  19. Rothrock, sorry I am on vacation and could not answer your question immediately.
    Yes it is covered with a cloth so the jar does not become airtight. Thats the way I have seen my grandma make them and my mom as well. Manisha has a fool proof method for her way of making the pickle. So you are good to try either way. With the lemon being cooked already in this recipe it does not need to stand in the sun for long whereas Manisha's pickle requires getting cooked in the sun and hence the tight lid. HTH.

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