Easy Lemon Pickle Recipe and the Memories of Pickling at Home

To cope with the time of uncertainties, I’m reaching out for familiar and comforting family recipes for balance. Little did I know that lemon pickle recipe will be so easy and enjoyable to indulge in that it will top the list of recipes I’m trying during this lockdown life.

My love for Lemon pickle

Pickle was our companion, especially, with parathas which we devoured for breakfasts. Be it plain parathas, aloo or mooli parathas, we looked forward to our favourite pickle or chutney from the homemade lot. We usually had a choice between mango pickle, raw mango chutney and lemon pickle.

Without much thinking, you end up having favourites and that’s what happened to me. I started looking forward to paratha breakfasts because of lemon pickle. That love for a soothing lemony flavour in the least amount of masala with its cooling tang has remained unchanged till today. 

The Indian heat gives excellent opportunities to create food through traditional methods of preserving. I remember the terrace on summer afternoons were filled with mats having the lining of plastic sheets on which rested the spread of preserves in the making.

You could see rice papad, sabudana (tapioca) papad, potato slices, mango pieces, lemon pieces, all in the process of dehydration. Secretly grabbing a few of the half-dried papads to eat was a fun achievement for us, brats!

Last time when my mom visited us in Ireland, she was happy to see the summer sunshine and stores loaded with lemons of all sizes. Of course, lemon pickle had to be prepared but the Irish heat isn’t the same, sunshine isn’t constant and access to terraces have its limitations.

However, all this couldn’t stop the experienced chef in my mother. After a phone conversation with my aunt in India, they had worked out a solution and there she was using a different method to create the pickle magic. Enjoying it every other day, that jar of lemon pickle lasted one year. We had stored it in the refrigerator. 

In this time of lockdown, while living far away from my mom, I have been indulging in a lot of comfort cooking of family recipes (mostly the easy ones). For a few weeks, I kept reminiscing about the pickle without daring to try preparing it. 

One sunny morning during this lockdown, I was expecting the vegetable & fruit box delivery from a local supplier. It was to be a box with all surprise content, depending on their week’s produce.

It was extremely thrilling to see the box filled with fresh goodness and to tempt me further, there were a few lemons in that mix! I already had a couple of lemons in the kitchen which was enough for my usual usage of lemons, for drizzle or to adjust the flavouring of a dish. 

I decided to call mom and give an attempt to pickle the lemons. To start with, I thought two lemons will be a wise choice, not too much of a disappointment if things go wrong. 

As mom said it’s an easy lemon pickle recipe, I scribbled it on the same notebook that she had handwritten before I moved to Ireland. The pickle recipes were missing in there because even she didn’t hope her daughter will take that effort! She said my grandmother used the same recipe with very little oil and achieved sheer perfection every time it was prepared. Grandma’s love to cook for us all was the secret, I thought.

The next day I started working on it, reading the lines repeatedly before completing each step. Precisely following the steps I ended up with the exact look and flavour I remember seeing in mummy’s kitchen and the lingering zesty smell in the kitchen, transported me home. 

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Easy Recipe of Lemon Pickle

Ingredients

• Lemons: 2 big ones (The masala is sufficient to use 3 big lemons as well if you prefer.)
• Mustard seeds: 8 to 10 tsp for masala, plus 2 tsp for frying 
• Fenugreek seeds: 1 tsp for masala
• Red chilli powder: about 2 tbsp for masala, adjust as per taste
• Asafoetida, a pinch for frying
• Salt
• Oil, any of your choice (I used coconut oil) 

Steps

1. Readying lemons 
2. Sterilisation of jars
3. Preparing the pickle
4. Storing

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Readying lemons

• Chop the lemons in medium or small pieces. 
• Transfer it to an airtight container with about fistful of salt. 
• Close the container and store it in a dry place, away from direct sunlight.
• Without opening the lid, give it a good shake once every day.
• This should be kept the same way for 5 days, before preparing the pickle.

Sterilisation of the glass jars

On the day of preparing the pickle, it also the time to get the jars ready for clean preserving of the pickle. Sterilisation is a quick, easy and an important step. 

• First, give a soap wash to all the jars you will use for the pickle. Place it on top of a clean tea towel and let it dry. 
• Preheat the oven at 180°C. Keep only the glass jars in the oven for 10 minutes. 
• On the stove, boil some water in a vessel. Place the lids in the boiling water for 10 minutes. 
• Again, keep the jars and lids, facing up, on a clean tea towel for drying. 
• It should be completely dry before filling the pickle. 

Preparing the pickle

• In low flame, roast the mustard seeds (8-10tsp) and fenugreek seeds on a pan, for about 2-4 minutes constantly stirring until you can get the aroma of spices. (Be careful not to burn the seeds)
• Transfer the roasted seeds to a grinding jar, along with chilli powder. Grind them to a fine powder. 
• Heat oil in a frying pan, add asafoetida and mustard seeds (2tsp). Saute for a minute and then add the ground masala, continue sauteing for 1 minute.
• Add the lemons, along with its juice collected in the same container. 
• Cook everything in low flame for 5 to 7 minutes. 

Storing the pickle

• Let the pickle cool down completely.
• Then, transfer it to sterilised jars.
• For the first 5 days, leave the jar’s mouth covered with a thin cotton cloth piece and sealed with a rubber band or thread.
• Leave it near a window with frequent sunlight falling on the jars. It helps in removing any moisture left in the pickle. 
• After this, you can replace the cloth cover with the jar lids. 
• Pickle can be safely placed out in a dry spot if consumed frequently. Otherwise, keep the jar in the refrigerator. 

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Try this easy recipe during this lockdown and live the meditative benefits of the process. I would love to know your pickle story and the if you’ve attempted pickling before. 🙂

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