Sweet lime pickle

I find a vegetarian Indian meal is incomplete without either a chutney or pickle of some sort. Currently there are three different types of lime pickles in my pantry, all homemade with homegrown limes: salted lime, a standard spicy lime pickle and this sweet pickle. It's not an overly sweet pickle. If you prefer it sweeter, you can always add more sugar. or jaggery.

Ingredients

• 18-24 limes (about 1.5 kg)

• 3 tbsp salt (plus extra to taste if needed)

• 3 tsp turmeric

• 1-2 tbsp chilli powder (or to taste)

• 1 rounded tbsp cumin seeds

• 1 tbsp coriander seeds

• 1 heaped tsp fennel seeds

• 1 tsp mustard seeds

• 1 stalk curry leaves, stalk removed

• 1 cup sugar or sugar and jaggery* (or to taste)

• 1/3 cup mustard oil**

Method

1. Wash and dry the limes. Cut each lime into 8 pieces - cut each lime into half and each half into quarters. Note that if the limes are large, you may want to cut each half into 6-8 pieces instead.

2. Toss the limes pieces with the salt and turmeric in a large non-reactive bowl e.g. glass or stainless steel. Cover the bowl and set aside for a few hours or overnight.

3. Dry the limes pieces in the sun for a few (days 2 to five days, depending on weather). Use a mesh style food cover to allow the juices to evaporate and either toss the pieces or stir gently a couple of times a day. Bring the bowl in each evening. The pieces should be dry to touch and the rind softened. Don’t let the pieces dry so much that the rind goes leathery.

4. Once the pieces are dry, heat the mustard oil to smoking point and allow it to cool. See note below.

5. While the mustard oil is cooling dry roast the seeds and grind to a powder and add it to the lime together with the chilli powder and sugar. Stir gently with a clean spoon to coat the limes pieces with the spices. As the sugar dissolves, a thick sauce will form.

6. Reheat the mustard oil - the oil should be hot but not smoking. Add the curry leaves to the oil and immediately turn off heat. The leaves will fry and go crispy but should not burn.

7. Add the oil with the curry leaves to the lime mixture and stir gently to combine. Set it aside for a few hours or overnight to give time for all the flavours to meld.

8. Taste the pickle and adjust seasoning if needed - sugar, salt and chilli.

9. Spoon into a sterilised glass jar with a good lid***. The pickle is ready but I like to leave it on my kitchen window sill that gets some sunlight the first week. After that it can be kept in the pantry. It has a long lifespan - at least a year****.

Note

* Jaggery has a richer, and sometimes slightly smokey flavour which I find not quite as sweet as sugar. The jaggery is usually available in chunks or in powdered form. If you’re using the chunky variety, grate or chop finely so it dissolves easily.

** Mustard oil is quite a pungent oil which enhances the flavour of pickles, However, before using mustard oil in any recipe, it should always be heated to smoking point (make sure you have the exhaust fan on high and windows open) and then cooled before reheating to the desired temperature. Why? Because that’s what mother did 😁. There is information available online that explain why. If you prefer not to use mustard oil, you can substitute it with canola, sunflower or peanut oil.

*** If the jar you use has a metal lid, it's a good idea to cover the mouth of the jar with a piece of muslin or cotton cloth before putting the lid on as the acidity may cause the metal to rust over time. I use jars with plastic or glass lids.

**** Indian pickles usually don’t require refrigeration. Always use clean utensils, never fingers. Take out the amount of pickle you need for a meal in a dish instead of serving straight from the jar and do not out any leftover pickle back into the jar.