Instant Sweet Lime Pickle by Pritha Sen
Pritha Sen, Chronicler of heritage cuisines. In her own words – My mother is very fond of the Rajasthani sweet lime pickle. So when my sister’s house-keeper gave me a bagful yesterday from their tree, I hunted for a quick recipe on the net and came up with a gem from Tarla Dalal which gave me the exact taste I wanted. And it took all of half an hour to make! Now it’s resting in that glass bowl for a day before being transferred to a jar and sent off to Ma.
Recipe:
This is a quick and easy sweet lemon pickle that is ready within minutes as compared to the traditional recipe which takes 20 days to prepare. Whole lemons are pressure cooked with water till the lemon skins are soft. Try and cut the lemons in the mixing bowl in which the pickle is to be combined with sugar, so that the juices of the cooked lemons are not lost (this liquid helps to dissolve the sugar). I have used castor sugar or fine crystals of sugar so that it gets dissolved quickly to make syrup for this pickle. When this pickle is just prepared, the lemon skins will have a slight bitter aftertaste which disappears once the pickle has mellowed for a day. This pickle will last for up to 3 months, when stored refrigerated.
Ingredients
7 (approx. 300 grams) lemons
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tsp salt and 2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 and 1/2 cups castor sugar
MethodÂ
Pressure cook the lemons with 4 cups of water for 5 whistles till the lemon skins are soft and give way under the pressure of your thumb.
Drain and let the lemons cool completely.
Place the lemons in a large mixing bowl. Cut them into quarters inside the bowl, to retain all the juices. Add the lemon juice and mix well.
Add the salt and turmeric powder to the lemons and leave aside for 10 minutes.
Gradually, add the sugar (2 to 3 tablespoons at a time) while stirring continuously so that all the sugar gets dissolved. The entire process will take about 15 to 20 minutes.
Add the chilli powder and mix well.
Store in a sterilised glass bottle and leave aside for one day. Next day, the pickle is ready to eat.
Store refrigerated for up to 3 months.