Shout Out: Pickle time!

Last year I had promised to post a reminder when it was time to make lemon and lime pickle in the sun (in the US). The sun is out, the days are long and the time is right.

If you can get hold of organic limes and lemons, more power to you! I looked high and low (ok! just in Sunnyvale Farmers' Market) for Meyer lemons but found none. I saw organic Eureka lemons and I am kicking myself for not bringing some home with me. I had to settle for Citrons and Persian limes. Don't forget to wash them well to get rid of the coating made of bees-wax.

Time to go solar!

Lemon pickle with no oil, cooked in the sun
Lime pickle with no oil, cooked in the sun

Make Lime Pickle (sans oil) while the Sun Shines

While the sun shines? Towards the end of summer?! So what if my timing is off? My lime pickle is ready! It's simply out-of-this-world-delicious! So maybe it's not practical for most folks in the northern latitudes to consider making this now but this recipe for a Lime Pickle, like my Lemon Pickle, is a keeper.

It is very similar to my Lemon Pickle: it is a family recipe, has no oil and is cooked in the sun. It has additional ingredients: green chillies, ginger, and whole fenugreek seeds; and it does not have red chilli powder.

I put this pickle together in the last week of July, knowing that I did not have much time to cook it in the sun. So for those of you who are already experiencing cool nights and nippy mornings, this may not be something you want to consider making this year. Unless you have a window that gets at least 4 hours of bright sun every day. The jar must get very warm for this pickle to cook. My sister who lives in Bombay usually puts this together in December or January.

• 10 limes, reserve 1 for juice
• 30 green Thai chillies
• 3/4 cup julienned ginger
• 1 tablespoon whole methi seeds, to be added whole
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup salt
• 3 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp methi seeds, to toast and grind
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp powdered hing (asafoetida)

1. Quarter 9 limes, reserving 1 for juice later, after slicing off the stalk scars. Pick limes with few blemishes and smooth skins. Wash the limes well, making sure that any outer wax has been washed off. Dry well. There must be no moisture on the limes.
   
   
   
   
2. Wash and dry the green chillis. Use less if you can't take the heat; more if you want to up the heat! Cut the stem off and cut each green chilli into two.
   
   
   
   
3. Wash and dry a 2 inch piece of ginger. Peel it and julienne into slices that are about an inch long. I used about 3/4 cup of julienned ginger.
   
   
4. Add 1 tablespoon of whole fenugreek seeds.
   
   
5. Add the salt, sugar and the turmeric powder.
6. Toast 1 tsp methi seeds, the mustard seeds and the powdered hing (asafoetida) for 4-5 minutes until the methi seeds are nicely tanned. I got distracted for a minute and mine got sunburnt.
   
   
   
   Cool completely and grind them to a fine powder in your coffee grinder or spice grinder and add it to the jar.
7. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime into the jar. Shake the jar well and set it out in the sun to cook.
   
   
   
   
8. Give it a good shake as you bring it in and put it out every day. Open it once every couple of weeks to adjust it for taste as well as to check to see how well it's cooking.
9. When the juices have thickened and the peel soft, it's ready. This lime pickle took 4 weeks in the Colorado sun. My sister says it takes about 2 months for hers to pickle completely in Bombay. Let it rest for 4-5 days in a dark and cool place. Then spoon it - a very dry spoon always - into smaller jars and refrigerate to make it last that much longer.

The taste is very different from my lemon pickle. It has a different zing to it. The ginger packs a wonderful punch and the aroma of the green chillies makes this pickle extra special. The methi seeds look like they wanted to begin sprouting but stopped short and are a delight to chew on.

I had to keep Medha at bay every time I opened this pickle to check on taste and just to give it a good stir. She has given her unequivocal thumbs up to this lime pickle! I have been declared the best mother in this whole world - because I make her favorite pickles! First the lemon pickle, now the lime pickle! As always, I am very grateful for the way she looks at life, especially since it is still filled with flattery for me!

The amount of juices released in this pickle from the lime, ginger and the green chillies had me worried. It took a good 15 days of warming in the hot sun before they started to thicken. We had our share of days with near 100F temperatures, but we also had far too many overcast and rainy days. I was worried because I've been warned that too much moisture leads to mold and fungus. But this pickle did really well. Perhaps the green chilli and lime combination helped ward off the evil!

Lemon Pickle Update II - It's Ready!

My lemon pickle is ready! Actually it was ready in 4 weeks but I haven't been able to post an update as this summer has been the busiest ever: birthday party for Medha, visitors, vacation and a huge backlog at work. It's not over yet cos Medha's school friend from New Lenox is coming to stay with us next week but two little girls should be easy to handle. Or am I expecting too much?!

I was surprised that it took only 4 weeks to cook in the sun. But I attribute that largely to the intensity of the sun here in Colorado; we are at a higher altitude which makes the sun even more fierce. I also think that the unexpectedly hot start to this year's summer played a significant role. The usual cooking time in the sun is about 2 months.

The juices are so thick that they stick to the lemon pieces. The thickened juice is called khaar in Marathi and a lemon piece are called limbachi phod. I washed and sliced one of the lemon pieces to show what the peel looks like when it is pickled and ready to eat. The thick peel is no longer crisp and no white parts are visible.

Once the pickle has reached this stage, allow it to rest in a dark place for at least 3 days, preferably a cool cabinet that is not opened frequently. Once past this stage, store the pickle in smaller glass jars in the refrigerator. The advantage of storing it in small jars is that you reduce the chances of contaminating the whole batch if someone double-dips into it or a not-so-dry spoon is used while serving. Storing it in the refrigerator also makes it last that much longer.

We love to have this lemon pickle on the side with meals, like we did with this simple meal of rice and thoy, a simple dal with lots of ginger.

Or with phulki (roti) and farasbeechi bhaji, which was our simple dinner last night.

We also love to have it with bagels. Yes! Warm bagels with cream cheese with a thin layer of lemon pickle. Delicious!

If you make this pickle, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

My next project is a lime pickle with ginger and green chillies, without oil and cooked in the sun. I hope to post the recipe soon!

Tags: Lemon pickle, lemon, Indian pickle, no oil pickle recipe

Lemon Pickle Update

One week later, the juices in my lemon pickle sans oil have thickened.

The lemon peel still shows a fair amount of 'white' in the middle and still sports a slightly bitter after-taste.

We've had a couple of scorchers this past week and the pickle is really cooking in the heat. The juices have thickened even more. I can't wait to open it up in another week to see how far it's come! The taste thus far is divine.

Tags: Lemon pickle without oil, cooking in the sun, lemon, Indian pickle

Lemon Pickle without oil (picture intensive step-by-step recipe)

I've always been afraid to make any sort of Indian pickle. Too much labor. Too much effort if they have to be cooked gently in the warmth of the sun. No instant gratification as they take months to pickle. One could just as well step out to the Indian grocery store and buy excellent pickles, as good as homemade ones. But the lemon pickles without oil are hard to find. So far I have only found Priya's Lime Pickle that has no oil. All other pickles have a thick layer of oil, which helps preserve the pickle but I like my lemon pickle without any oil.

I was forced to take the plunge when I ran out of the small bottles of two lemon pickles my sister sent me in February this year, both made without any oil. One with green chillies and the other with red chilli powder. I had a bunch of beautiful lemons that were sitting invitingly on the counter - so inviting that I ignored the fact that the peel is much thicker than the Indian lemon and decided to just go for it.

I used an old family recipe that has been passed down through several generations. The beauty of these pickles is enhanced by the "no-oil" factor.

No-Oil Lemon Pickle
Limbacha loncha

1. Wash and dry 6 lemons thoroughly. (12 lemons if you are in India as they are much smaller than the lemons in the US.) There should be no water on the lemons or in your jar. This is very important.
   
2. Slice off the stalk scar as shown below.
   
3. Cut the lemon into quarters and then cut each quarter into a half along the length. Then cut each resulting piece into quarters or thirds.
   
4. Fill the glass jar as you go along. Your jar will soon look like it will overflow. Don't worry. Everything will settle down and there will be tons of space in the jar.
   
5. Add 1/2 cup salt.
   
6. Add 1/4 cup chilli powder.
   
7. Add 1/2 cup sugar.
   
   
   
8. Add 3 tsp of turmeric powder and shake the jar about to help the powders get to as many lemons as possible.
   
   
9. Next you need 1 tsp methi seeds.
   
10. And 1 tsp black mustard seeds
    
11. And 1/4 tsp asafoetida or hing powder.
    
12. Roast these three ingredients on medium flame for about 4-5 minutes till there is a mouth-watering aroma in your kitchen and the methi seeds look a little tanned. They should not look sun-burnt, just nicely tanned.
    
    
13. Grind these in your coffee grinder. What? You think your coffee will smell of methi and hing from here onwards? Tch! Tch! You mean you actually grind coffee beans in your coffee grinder? Never do that. Repeat after me: Coffee grinders are for grinding spices! Well done! Now add this powdered mix to the jar. The lemons should have started oozing juice already.
    
14. Add the juice of 1 lemon. If necessary, use a dry palette knife or a dry table knife to stir the contents of the jar. See how the lemons have become limp and there is so much space in the jar?
    
15. The jar must be placed in the sun to cook slowly in its warmth.
    
16. Give it a good shake as you put it out and bring it in each day. Your pickle should be ready in about 2 months when the peel has softened and is no longer crisp.

See what I mean about labor intensive? Putting it together takes less than 20 minutes. But after that, it's a lot of effort! Nevertheless I am very excited about it. Here is what my pickle looks like after 1 whole day in the sun. My home is in the East-West direction so I just follow the sun as it moves over from the backyard to the front and leave it out till just before sunset. It's nice and warm when I bring it in. I am really looking forward to this pickle. I hope after all this effort, it works out!!

A lot of people cook it gently on the stove. But in my family, we've always followed this procedure and all of us prefer this taste.

For those of you looking for the ingredients in a concise list, here it is:

• 6 lemons (12 Indian lemons as they are much smaller)
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/4 cup red chilli powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp methi seeds
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp hing powder
• Juice of 1 lemon (2-3 lemons in India)
• Large glass jar, approx 2 liters in volume

Think you want to join me in trying this out? Go ahead! And if you do, be sure to let me know how it's doing. Or just wait to see how mine does before you try yours out. After all we have the whole summer ahead of us! I'll be posting an update every week or so. The juices will start thickening as it cooks in the sun.

Yum!


Update Feb 11, 2007: I made lemon pickle from 3lb of Sunkist lemons on the stove today. After the low temperatures ruined so much of California's citrus crop, I gave up hope of seeing Meyer lemons in the stores here. I decided not to wait any longer and purchased a 3lb bag of citron lemons. They are the best looking lemons I could find. The organic ones at Whole Foods and Wild Oats looked really sad. Anyway, I cooked it on low, uncovered for 5 hours, stirring every so often until the juices thickened. The final consistency should be similar to that of thick pancake batter. The only thing to watch out for: ensure that the juices don't start sticking to the bottom of the pan and charring. The juices will start burning and the pickle will get a strange taste.

I made one mistake: I added 1/2 cup of red chilli powder instead of 1/4 cup. I was trying to do too many things all at once and while this level of heat may be fine for many folks, it's way too much for us. I added 1/4 cup sugar to balance it out but it's still too fiery. I am planning to buy another 3 lb bag and make more pickle on the stove, but without any red chilli powder and mix the two.

Which one is better? The one cooked in the sun has far more flavor. Slow-cooking in the sun rules!

Tags: Lemon pickle, lemon, Indian pickle, no oil pickle recipe