Recipe- Easy To Make Lemon Pickle

Lemon pickle or nimbe hannina uppinakayi is a delicious accompaniment that is a regular part of lunch and dinner in Karnataka. Lemon pickle or nimbe hannina uppinakayi is a delicious accompaniment that is a regular part of lunch and dinner in Karnataka. Every summer, we make pickles and preserve them to last the entire year. Pickles made in south India are very different from the ones made in north India. South Indian pickles are made with gingelly oil and the amount of oil used to make the pickle is also less.

Ingredients

15-20 lemons
Juice of 2 lemons
½ cup salt (pink salt or sea salt)
¼ cup Kashmiri red chilli powder
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds

For tempering

¼ cup oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon asafoetida (hing)

Method

- Wash lemons and pat dry well with clean kitchen towel

- Wash and dry the knife, cutting board, jar and spoon

- Chop the lemon into eight pieces. The cut lemon should be approximately 3 to 3½ cups

- In the jar, add a layer of lemon pieces and sprinkle 1 teaspoon with salt

- Add another layer of lemon pieces and sprinkle salt again

- Repeat until all the lemon pieces are layered

- Sprinkle all the remaining salt on the top

- Add the lemon juice over this

- Cover the jar with a lid. Let it sit in a dark and dry spot at room temperature for four to five days. Open the lid to air the jar every 24 hours. After closing the lid, give the jar a good shake

- At the end of 4th or 5th day, all the salt will be dissolved. At this stage, it is ready to be mixed with spices

- Dry roast fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds. Cool it and grind into a fine powder

- Transfer the lemon along with all the liquid into a clean and dry bowl

- Add the ground powder and Kashmiri chilli powder. Mix well with a clean and dry spoon

- Transfer it back to the jar and close the lid

- Let it sit in dark and dry spot at room temperature for the next three to four weeks

- To check if the pickle is ready, take a piece of piece of pickle and press it with your fingers. The lemon should be soft and should break easily

- Once the pickle is ready, prepare the tempering. Heat oil and mustard seeds. Once it crackles, add the hing and turn off the flame

- Let the tempering cool and then add it to the pickle. Mix the tempering well with the pickle

- The pickle is ready to be served or stored.