Lemon Chilly Pickle

Any prolonged inactivity at my blog is due to the fact that I am home in India right now, enjoying the tail end of a later than normal monsoon. Its bliss - to say the least, and really haven't had much time to sit on the computer at a stretch. Onam season has already started here, most homes have pookalams (flower decorations) and there are onam sales & ramadan sales at every street corner, in any case Malayalis don't need any excuse for splurging, its practically second nature.

My post today isn't about any of my Kerala experience but an unfinished business from Dubai - a super simple Lemon Chilly pickle. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the seasoned pickle - my trip was a hurried one and the circumstances I'll write about another day. For now just keep your imagination running and remember that the pickle looks a little more golden when finally done.

The recipe is from a Pakistani cookery show that I chanced upon one day while channel surfing and the host(ess) was going on and on about "Khichri, Papad aur Achar" (Khichdi is sort of an Indian rissotto with lentils, Papad is poppadom and Achar ofcourse means pickle). The khichdi recipe was a little unusual, I still haven't tried it out. And the pickle was super tempting and was so simple that all I had to do was assemble stuff together. Here goes,

Ingredients:

Lemon - 10

Green Chilly - 1 cup

Minced Garlic - 1 Tbsp

Salt - 4 Tbsp

Raw Mustard Oil - about 1 cup

Method:

1. Cube the lemons and chop the green chillies.

2. Mix well with generous amount of salt and the minced garlic and fill in a sterile glass jar.

3. Pour raw mustard oil over the pickle, the oil should cover the vegetables. Cover and close tightly.

4. The pickle needs to be sunned for a minimum of 3 days.

I found the chillies edible after three days, but since I had used the bigger south african lemons, that have a thicker skin, I found the pickle needed to sit for awhile more.

Do mix the pickle well once before use and add more salt if you like. Lemon pickles have a long shelf life simply because limes and lemons contain a high concentration of citric acid - a natural preservative. Similarly, mustard oil also acts as a preservative by inhibiting the growth of yeasts and molds. So these along with salt, should give you a total shelf life that lasts beyond 6 months without refrigeration.

The chillies in the pickle were nice and tangy and great with plain bread and butter sandwiches and the pickle itself can, and should be, eaten with Khichdi, or along with your main meal. Bon Apetit!

Sending my easy peasy Lemon Chilly pickle to Roma's (Roma's Space) Long Live the Shelf event.