Recipe Talk

I'm looking for a sour lime pickle without sugar in the recipe. My great-grandmother made these and I know she didn't add sugar to her recipe. She was one who never wrote any recipes down-she stored them in her memory. She passed away several years ago and nobody in my family remembers how to make these pickles. I've looked for several years for this recipe and the recipes I had found always include sugar. PLEASE HELP. Thank you, Kimberly Greening

Hot Lime Pickle:
Required:
1 kg. of quartered lemons, 10 grams of fenugreek powder, 1/4 katori split mustard seeds, 6 tea spoons of asafetida, 1 katori of chilly powder, 1 katori salt, 20 grams of oil, 1 tea spoon of mustard seeds and 1/4 katori turmeric powder.
Method:
Apply a little salt and turmeric powder to the lemon pieces and set aside. Grind the split mustard; heat oil and add mustard seeds, asafetida, turmeric and fenugreek powder. When cool, add salt and chilly powder. Mix this masala with the lemon pieces and pack tight into jar. After 2 days, stir pickle thoroughly up and down. Oil should rise to the surface. If this doesn't happen, prepare more tempering with another 1/2 katori of oil and pour over pickle when cool. This pickle takes some time to mature.

Long Lasting Lime Pickle:
Required:
2 kg of fully ripe, yellow limes, free form blemishes. (Soak in water for 8 hours. Wipe and pat dry. Cut into quarters without separating. 2 kg is the net weight of the cut limes). 500 grams of salt and 1/2 tea spoon of ajwain.
Method:
Place one - third of the limes in a jar. Sprinkle salt and a few seeds of ajwain. Repeat another layer of lime, salt and ajwain, and finally a third layer, until all the ingredients have been put in the jar or bharni. Cover and keep in the morning sun for 10 to 15 days, shaking and bharni occasionally. Now keep in a cool dry place until the pickle matures and the outer skin loses its bitterness and becomes soft. It takes a couple of months to mature. This pickle keeps for years.

Sweet Lime Pickle:
Required:
25 lemons, 3/4 kg of sugar, 2 katoris salt, 3/4 katori chilly powder, 5 tea spoons of turmeric powder, 2 tea spoons of fenugreek, roasted and powdered and 2 tea spoons of asafetida.
Method:
Quarter lemons. Add all the salt and 5 tea spoons of turmeric powder. Pack into a clean, dry jar. Stir the lemon pieces up and down every day for 15 days. Then add fenugreek powder asafetida, chilly powder and 3/4 kg of sugar. More sugar may be added if lemons are unusually sour. Good quality lemons normally require 1 kg of sugar.

Carrot Pickle:
Required:
1 kg of carrots, 25 grams of mustard powder, 25 grams of chilly powder, salt, turmeric powder to taste and mustard oil.
Method:
Wash the carrots and cut them into long pieces. If the carrots are big cut into 8 pieces, otherwise four. Mix all the ingredients with a little oil. Pack into jars and keep in the sun for four days.

Crisp Carrot Chilly:
Required:
1 cup carrot strips, 1 cup thick green chilies cut into rings, 1/2 cup lemon, 1 table spoon of salt, 1 pinch sugar, 1/2 table spoon of jeera, 2 table spoons of oil, 1 table spoon of lemon juice, 1/16th tea spoon of haldi powder.
Method:
Scrape carrot, cut into thin strips. Cut thick green chilies into 1-cm rings. Cut lemon into wedges. Heat 1/2 tea spoon oil, saute the chilies, till they are very green, and an aroma starts, sprinkle part of the salt. Let cool, sprinkle the carrots with salt, sugar and lime juice. Mix all vegetables. Roast jeera, powder and add. Heat rest of the oil. Add haldi powder after removing from heat and nearly cool. When cold, store in the pickle bottle.

Plain Lemon Pickle:
Required:
25 sour limes of the same size, 200 gram of salt (powdered) and 2 grams of asafetida.
Method:
First wash the sour limes well and dry thoroughly with a cloth. Prick the limes all over with a sharp knife. Arrange them in a jar and sprinkle asafetida and salt over them. Shake the jar well and keep in the sun daily for one month. The pickle will be ready after this period. This simple pickle can be kept for more than 20 years.

asafetida [ah-sah-FEH-teh-dah] = asafoetida powder = asafoetida = hing = devil's dung = ferula = foetida = food of the gods = heeng = imguva This powdered gum resin imparts a very strong onion-garlic flavor to Indian dishes. Use it sparingly-a little goes a long way. Look for it in Indian or health food stores or in the spice section of larger supermarkets. Substitutes: omit it from the recipe OR garlic powder OR onion powder

ajwain = ajwain seed = carom seed = bishop's weed = ajowan = ajowan seed = ajwon = ajwan Pronunciation: AHJ-a-wahn Notes: These look like small caraway seeds, but they taste like a pungent version of thyme. Indian cooks like to sprinkle them on breads. Look for them in Indian markets. Substitutes: dried thyme (use more) OR cumin OR caraway

Good Day,

I have never heard of these, this sounds very interesting. What is a lime pickle and what do you do with them?
Thanks
Jamie

Hi Jamie,
Lime pickle is one of many indian condiments which accompany dishes as rice or (chapatthi)indian flat bread of course the pickle is spicy and or pungent sometimes sweet and sour and one has to develop a taste for indian pickles.
Now for lime or limes is a sour citrus fruit more info.and details on limes are found at :- http://www.tonytantillo.com/fruits/limes.html

A picture of one of several kinds of lime pickle is found here :- http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/2005/05/20/lime-pickle/
bon appetite
jossy