Lemon Pickle- Nimboo ka Achaar

I have never been a huge pickle fan. But off lately I have realised I love making pickles. The whole process might seem tedious, but it is so joyous.

Like always before the winter lemons ran out of stock (read cheap lemons🙈) , I bought around a kg of lemons, squeezed out their juice and froze them onto cubes to use during summers for chutney & shikanji. Just before I was about to discard the lemon skins, a fabulous idea came to mind. I thought why not pickle these lemon skins. So I added around 10 fresh juicy lemons into the mix, cut each skin into 4 added the spices & sugar & bottled it to sit in the sun for a few days. Around 2 weeks later, the pickle was ready. Soft skins with a nice tangy-spicy flavour. But it lacked the juice (obviously), so I made a fresh mix of the spices, mixed with 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice(its cheaper than fresh lemon juice in summers) and added to the pickle. 2 days in the sun and I have the perfect, juicy..tangy lemon pickle.

So when you are making this pickle you can use whole lemons, or you can experiment like me. But do give it a try. Keep in the sun for a week and it’ll be ready. Trust nothing tastes as good as ghar ka bana achaar.

Nimboo ka Achaar

• Servings: 1 kg pickle
• Time: 10 minutes + 2 hours drying+ 2 weeks of sun bathing once bottled
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients

• 1 kg lemons
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/3 cup ajwain/ carom seeds
• 1/4 cup turmeric powder/ haldi
• 1/4 cup deghi/ kashmiri mirch powder
• 2/3 cup sugar

How to make it

1. Wash and wipe the lemons with a clean cloth. Then spread on a cloth & allow to sit in the sun for around 2 hours.
2. Cut each lemon into 4 equal pieces.
3. Squeeze the juice out of around 1/4 of the lemons.
4. In a large bowl, add all the masalas, sugar & the lemon juice. Mix well till the sugar dissolves.
5. Sterilise a glass or ceramic bottle by smoking some hing and red chilli powder in oil & hold the bottle over the smoke. Close the lid and let it sit for 15 minutes.
6. Add the masala juice to the lemons and mix well.
7. Transfer to the sterilised bottle.
8. Cover the cap with a cloth & secure with a twine of thread.
9. Let it sit in the sun for 1-2 weeks, giving it a good mix every day.
10. The pickle is ready when the skins have become a little soft.
11. Once ready store in a cool dry place.