Spicy And Non-Oily Lemon Pickle 

Whether it is summer or winter, Pickle is a famous side dish which is always available in abundance in every Indian household. Pickles can be preserved in a jar for months and can be easily prepared at home. The dish gives you the liberty to pair them with any other dish such as rice, paratha, poori or chapatis. One of the famous and most preferred pickles is lemon pickle which is also known as Nimbu Ka Achaar. Its sour and tangy flavours add a perfect touch to the table and is a welcome side dish which is also loved by guests. 

Here’s how to make this tangy and non-oily Nimbu Ka Achaar-

Servings: ½ kg

Ingredients:

1. 15-20 Medium-Sized Fresh Llemon 

2. 1/4 cup + 1/4 cup Crystal Salt

3. 20-25 Red chillies 

4. 2 tsp Mustard Seeds

5. 1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds 

6. 1 tsp Cumin Seeds

7. 2 tsp Cooking Oil

8. 1/4 tsp Asafoetida

Lemon pickle

1. Take a cloth and wash and pat dry the lemons. Make sure the lemons get completely dry as even a drop of water can spoil the achaar. Slice each lemon into 4 pieces

 2. Remove all the seeds from the lemon. Now take a dry jar and add a layer of lemon pieces followed by crystal salt. Add 2 tsp of salt in each layer

3. Follow the method until the jar gets fulfilled with the lemon pieces and salt. Close the jar and keep it like this for 10-15 days. Mix the jar once a while. After 15 days, the pieces would have shrunk and changed to pale brown. Put the lemon pieces into a big bowl

4. Take a vessel, add 1/4 cup of salt and a cup of water to it. Boil it for about 10 minutes in medium flam. Keep it aside to cool down 

5. Now it’s time to roast the spices. Take a dry pan and add mustard seeds to roast them till it sputters. Now roast fenugreek and cumin seeds one by one

6. Add oil and red chillies in the same pan and roast them as well till they puff up. Keep all the roasted ingredients aside to cool down on a room temperature and then powder them together

7. Next include asafoetida and salt water to the grinder and grind them to make a fine puree

8. Now, pour the puree onto lemon pieces in the bowl. Mix all the content thoroughly and put the pickle in a glass jar

9. Keep the pickle as it is for a few days so that lemon absorbs all the spice flavours. Finally, the lemon pickle is ready to serve

Notes:

1. Make sure to use dry jar, cloth, spoons to make this pickle. A little amount of water can spoil the achaar in no time 

2. For a long life of pickle, the salt water and the roasted spices should be cooled down well before proceeding to powder

3. Make sure that the spices don’t get burn. Roast the spices on a medium flame with constant stirring 

4. Lemon pickle has many health benefits. It has vitamin C and spices which are good for digestion.