Lemon Pickle 1, in Oil
Neembu ka Tel (Tael) Walla Achaar
Mamta Gupta
This pickle is more like the ready made lime pickle that you buy in jars. It contains oil and more spices than the traditional, north Indian lemon pickle, which is sometimes known as Preserved Lemons in UK. *In India, it is made from lemons that look like limes in UK and have a paper thin or 'kagzi' skin. Western lime skins are tougher and take longer to soften/mature. So I use the lemons.
Ingredients
500 gm limes (nimbu) or lemons *
2 tsp. Panch Pooran
2 tbsp. rapeseed oil
50 gm. salt
Chilli powder to taste. You can add ground black peppers instead.
Instructions
Wash and dry limes thoroughly. Drying is important, as any hint of water will make the pickle go mouldy. I leave them in a sunny place for a day or on a towel overnight.
Grind all the seeds together, coarsely.
Slice lemons into small wedges.
Place in a bowl, add salt and mix well.
Leave them in a bowl overnight. Do not discard any juice that seeps out.
Heat mustard oil to smoking point. This gets rid of the pungent smell of mustard oil. Allow it to cool.
Add to the lemons in the bowl and mix well.
Adjust salt/chillies/black pepper according to taste.
Transfer to a sterile jar.
Leave on a sunny window sill for a month or two. Turn the jar up-side-down every few days, so all the pieces get equal soaking in the collecting juice at the bottom. Lemons slowly change colour and becomes beige in colour, their skin softens and breaks easily when pressed between fingers. This takes 6-8 weeks.
Pickle is now ready, but remember that older the lemon pickle gets, better it tastes.
It can be served with all kind of foods, Indian and non-Indian, in sandwiches, added to vegetable bhajies (dry curry) of all kinds to add 'zing' to them.
Also see Pickle and Chutney Selection.
Notes
Tip from reader Jevman; add a little jaggery to the pickle makes it "absolutely delicious better than any shop bought stuff". Note from Mamta; Add it after the lemon skin has softened, otherwise it will take longer to mature.
