Authentic Lemon Pickle

OMG! I am very sure you won’t miss making it often after you taste it, as the taste is awesome.I never thought I could make an authentic lemon pickle as my Amma is an expert in making it, but believe me it came out so well and now it’s a part of everything my Bf’s meal.Pickles are made in many ways, like an instant or as an authentic. Instant pickles are very easy to make with no tedious process like my Instant Mango Pickle. This lemon pickle is something made very authentically in kerala, Yes, the total days I took for a perfect mixture was nearly 15-18 days. The making is very simple however the days for preparing it is little long, But once you make it in the beginning then you all set.

My Amma use to say that if the pickle is not authentically handled, it will surely get spoiled even while making itself. So care should be taken while handling it, such as like always use clean neat spoon (not plastic).

Since it involves more kind of a process, I had given the method as an instruction. Use only small greenish lemons and not the big one. Once you get the lemon, clean it properly and make sure that there is no mud or dust in it, this process is very essential in making a authentic lemon pickle. After washing the lemon wipe it with using a clean cotton cloth and remove the wet from it. Its very important to do that as if there is any dirt or dust may cause damage to the pickle.
 

Ingredients:

• Lemon- 50 nos
• Green Chilies- 10 nos
• Kallu uppu(Sea Salt)- a 3/4th of the packet( if it’s a ½ kg packet)
• Gingely Oil- 8-9 Tspn
• Fenugreek Seeds powder- ¾ Tspn
• Dried red chilies- 1 Cup (loosely packed)
• Asafetida powder- 1 Tspn

Instructions:

• Take a clean ceramic air tight container and fill the base with handful of salt After the lemon is cleaned as said above, cut the lemons as 4 pieces and green chilies as 2 slices.
• Add about 25 pieces of lemon into the jar.
• On top of it, add again a handful of salt and shake the jar to mix well.
• Layer the lemons and green chilies with the salt as said with shaking in between to mix well.
• After all set, close the container tightly.
• Do not open the jar for about 6 days for the salt to set.
• After the 6th day, open the jar and shake it for a minute and close again, the same way repeat the process for each day for another 10 more days (until the lemons become soft and the salt is completely dissolved and the salt is completely soaked with the lemon)
• If you feel still the lemons haven’t become soft, leave it for another 3 more days.
After the 10th day, you can check the salt if its sufficient if yes, go with the final method else, add little more salt and keep for another 3 more days.

Final Method:

• Dry roast the red chilies and grind to coarse powder (not as a fine powder just like a chilly flakes)
• In a heating pan, add oil, when the oil becomes hot, add the fenugreek powder and asafetida and sauté for 2 minutes.
• Add both the roasted red chili powder and the oil mixture to the soaked lemons and stir well.
• After adding the ingredients to the lemon keep it unopened for one more day.
• After a day, you could serve with hot rice or chappathi

Tips:

"Adjust the spice level as per your spicy need.

When ever you are serving, always use neat clean spoon.

Mix well often, as the gravy will reside at the bottom of the jar, hence before you handle, you could mix well so that you can get the gravy as well.

At some times, the lemon will not be softer even after soaking for 15 days, in that case, you can go ahead with the final method. 

After you make the pickle, its better if you keep it in the refrigerator so that the pickle stays good for many days".