Lemon Pickle
Updated: Aug 4, 2021
What to do with all the lemons? Well ,lemon pickle is one way to preserve those lovely in season produce and enjoy for months to come. This is my mum's traditional Fiji-Indian lemon pickle recipe and it goes well with any Indian meal. One of the best ways is to enjoy it with dhal and rice - it never fails! This hot and sour lemon pickle really gets those taste buds buzzing.
This is an easy recipe to make. Tweak the heat to suit your taste buds. If you can get a ready to go pickle spice mix, it makes the process much easier. I recommend 'Mangal Ready Pickle' spice mix.
For those who prefer to make their own spice mix or cannot get the 'Mangal Ready Pickle' mix, there is a recipe below to make your own pickle spice mix from scratch.
To keep the pickle preserved for longer, mustard oil is added. This adds flavour and helps to keep the pickle fresh for longer.
Ingredients:
6 large fresh lemons
2 - 3 tbsp of 'Mangal Ready Pickle Spice Mix' (or see instructions below to make your own spice mix)
Mustard Oil (use enough to cover the lemons in your jar)
Storage: Glass jar to store the pickles
Method:
Wash the lemons and place them in a saucepan of water and boil for 5 minutes.
Turn off heat, drain and cool.
Using a sharp knife, cut the lemons in quarters or eighths.
Spread out the cut lemons on a tray and leave it in a sunny spot to dry. This can take 1-2 days. Alternatively, if you do not get sunny weather, you can dehydrate the lemons in an oven set at 60 to 70 degrees Celsius. Removing the moisture ensures that lemons do not spoil.
Once dry, add 2-3 tbsp of 'Mangal Ready Pickle Spice' mix. (see instructions below to make your own if you do not have this available to you).
Heat a cup of mustard oil on a medium stove, until smoking hot. Turn off heat and cool the oil.
Place the lemon in your pickle jar, and pour over the cooled oil, taking care to cover the lemons completely.
Store the pickles in a refrigerator and enjoy with any meal.
Make Your Own Pickle Spice Mix:
(Alternative to the Mangal Ready Pickle Mix)
Ingredients:
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or chilli powder) or to taste
1 tsp cumin (Jeera)
1 tsp mustard (sarso) seeds
1/2 tsp Ajwain seeds
1 - 2 tsp salt or to taste
Method:
1. Add the fenugreek, mustard, ajwain and cumin in a small frypan and dry roast on low to medium heat until fragrant.
2. Cool and grind using a coffee grinder or a matar and pestle.
3. Add this ground spice mixture, turmeric, salt and chilli power to your dried lemons and mix well.
4. Proceed with step 6 above.
Additional Tips:
If you would like to make a chilli mustard oil, heat the mustard oil till smoking hot, add 1-2 tsp of dried hot chilli flakes and cover till the oil has cooled. Please note that adding chilli to hot oil releases a lot of pungency and is not ideal. Therefore, take care to add the chillies to the oil and then cover immediately until cooled. Then proceed to use this instead in step 7 above.
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