Lime Pickle Recipe எலுமிச்சை ஊறுகாய் Lemon Pickle 2

Good Lime or lemon pickle reminds me of two people - my grandmother and my mother-in-law. I don't remember my grandmother's pickle making all that much but it had green chilies, garlic and sometimes even green (black) peppers. Whereas my MIL's without fail packed us lemon pickles every year. Without the slightest taste of sourness or bitterness but nice and smooth, these were some of the best no fuss lemon pickles I have ever tasted. We lost her this year but with covid and not travelling for the last 2 years, I learned to make the pickles because we had made it once under her tutelage when she was here. It might not have the finesse of her pickles and the aroma of pickles made in her kitchen, we make do with these :) They come tantalizingly close to the original.

We got the recipe from MIL but like most recipes we know from our relatives, hers gives everything in handfuls and I have done my best to translate them to cups and spoons.

Here in the US, the lemons have a fairly thick skin, while you can still make with these lemons I prefer using limes for the pickle. The limes that we get here are typically green harvested before they have become ripe, and used for the kind of recipes that requires a more sour tasting juice than what it would be if it were ripe.

For the purposes of this recipe the green or the yellow ones with thin skin work perfectly. For a better tasting pickle it is necessary to use thin skinned limes/lemon than the thicker skinned ones. I am not saying the thicker skinned citruses cannot be pickled. They absolutely can be.

Sun drying or sun marinating the cut limes are what gives this pickle the taste. So plan to do them that way if you can. Having said that, it does not mean the pickles have to be made only in the summer. I usually run out of the lime pickles I make in the summer and crave for some during winter. The lime pieces take a bit longer to marinate but they absolutely can be made in the winter. I place the marinating limes on a sunny window sill for about 3-4 weeks. During the summer I let it sit in the sun outside.

No sunny window? Not a problem. Let it sit in its own juices for 3-4 weeks and that should be sufficient. I used to think that making lemon/lime pickles is kind of hard. I am blown away by how easy this is compared to some of the other pickles I make.

Recipe in pictures.

Cut the lime into small pieces, about 8 pieces per lime and add them to a glass or ceramic jar and add about 1/3 cup of salt and let it marinate for 3-4 weeks. In a small pan roast mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Cool and powder.
Heat oil in a wide mouthed pan, season with mustard and fenugreek seeds. When mustard pops add asfoetida followed by the marinated lime pieces and let it come to a boil.
Add chili powder and salt and mix well.
Add the mustard and fenugreek powder, check for salt and turn off the heat.

Recipe in pictures,

Lime Pickle Recipe
Marination Time:3-4 weeks
Preparation Time:10 minutes
Cooking Time:20 minutes
Ingredients

1. 8-10 lemons (makes about 3-4 cups of cut fresh lime pieces)
2. 1/3 cup red chili powder
3. 1/3 cup of rock salt (if using table salt use less
4. 1/2 tbsp mustard seeds
5. 2 tsp fenugreek seeds
6. 1/2 tsp asfoetida powder
7. 1/2 - 1 cup sesame oil (I use slightly more to keep it fresh longer)
8. seasonings: 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds, 2 pinches of asfoetida powder

Method

1. Few weeks before making the pickle, wash the limes and let them dry. Cut each lime into 8 pieces, cut vertically and then cut each into 4 pieces.
2. Put the cut lime into a glass (or ceramic) jar with salt. Cover the opening with a cheese cloth and then it in the sun for 2-3 weeks or if indoor for 3-4 weeks.
3. In a wide mouthed pan (I used a mud pot) add the seasonings - mustard, fenugreek seeds and asfoetida, when the mustard seeds start to pop add the cut and marinated lime pieces.
4. While this heats up in a small pan add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and asfoetida and let it brown. Cool and powder.
5. Let the lime pieces come to a boil, add red chili powder and mix it in. **
6. Add the powdered mustard, asfoetida and fenugreek powder, mix it in and turn off the heat.
**if you the pickle a bit more pulpy, heat a 1/4 cup of water to a boil and add to the lime/lemon pieces.

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Red Jalapeño chili sauce with vinegar or Jalapeño thokku (Farm to Plate)

I grow several kinds of chilies, some of them spicy and used for cooking, some are not so spicy and used for making fritters and jalapeño wghich I grow mostly for making pickles (in vinegar) and also for making stuffed jalpaenos or even making a gravy.

In the height of summer, when everything needs to be harvested, peppers seem to be the ones left behind because they don't go bad. While most of the hot green chilies are harvested while green, sometimes I let them get red or ripen. I heard somewhere that they lose their heat as they start to ripen but the opposite is true. Some of these peppers start to get hotter (spicier) when they turn red.

I had left some of the jalapeño without harvesting for a while and I realized that they had ripened. I now have developed this habit of thinking like folks in Andhra do almost naturally is to wonder if I can make some kind of pickle with them. I tried to make Szchewan sauce with the ripened jalapeño and they turned out so much more milder than the hot red chilies and they were mistaken for a spread. So I decided to reduce the vinegar and eliminate the soy sauce and try making a spread with them.

Since these jalapeño also carry an underlying fruitiness to the taste they seem to be perfect for making a thokku or a spread to be used on breads or sandwiches. While they are really good as a spread they can be used as a chili sauce for sauteing vegetables or chicken.

A typical Indian version of the jalapeño thokku is here.

Recipe in pictures.

Cut the jalapeño into halves and removes the seeds and ribs.
Take the jalapeño in a blender jar and blend to a paste.
Cut onions and garlic. Heat oil in a wide mouthed pan and when hot, add the onions and garlic.
Saute the onions and garlic till they turn brown.
Add the blended jalapeños and cook till oil separates. Add salt. Add more oil if required. Finally finish with vinegar.

Works great as a spread.

Red Jalapeño Relish or Jalapeño thokku
Preparation Time:20 minutes
Cooking Time:35 minutes
Ingredients

1. 3 cups of jalapeños
2. 1 cups of chopped red onions
3. 1/4 cup of chopped garlic
4. salt to taste
5. 2 tbsp of white distilled vinegar
6. 1 cup of oil (i used sesame oil)

Method

1. Slit the jalapeños in half and remove the seeds and ribs (use gloves while doing this).
2. Take the cleaned jalapeños in a blender or nutribullet and make a farily smooth paste.
3. In a wide mouthed pan (i used a clay pot) add about 1/2 cup of oil and when hot add in the garlic and onions and saute till they start to turn brown.
4. Add in the blended paste and cook till oil starts to separate and mixture looks shiny. Add salt and vinegar and cook for a few more minutes.
5. Cool and transfer the pickle to glass jars. Glass jars can be sterilzed by putting them in the microwave for about a minute.

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