Sweet and Sour Lemon Pickle

Directions

1. Traditional Pickle
2. Wash and dry the lemons properly. Squeeze out juice from 5 lemons and keep it aside and do not discard away the skins of lemons. Take the remaining lemons, cut them into quarters and remove the seeds.
3. In another bowl take lemon juice, salt and turmeric powder , mix it with the lemon quarters and squeezed out lemon skins. Keep it in a container covered with a cheesecloth under sunlight for about 10 days, till the lemons are brine well and are tender. Keep tossing it regularly. (cover the cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band or a string)
4. After 10 days , add in sugar and jaggery and keep it for another 7 to 10 days again under sunlight till the sugar melts into the mixture.Stir the container once in while.
5. After all this procedure, finally we can add the chilli powder, asafetida, ginger pieces, green chillies, cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds and peppercorns. Mix well. And, store it in a sterilized glass jar and it can be stored for a year at room temperature..the older the pickle the better it is.

1. Instant lemon Pcikle
2. Take the lemons and 2 to 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker. And, cook it for about 5 whistles till the lemons are tender. Once boiled , drain out the water and keep the lemons aside.
3. Now, take lemons and cut them into small quarters and do remove the seeds. Take salt and turmeric powder and mix well to the lemons quarters. Gradually add the sugar 2 to 3 spoons at a time and keep mixing it till the sugar dissolves. Once all the sugar is mixed well, add the chilli powder and remaining spices.
4. Store it in a glass jar and leave it for one day , after one day the pickle is ready to eat. After one day at room temperature , you can store it for about 3 months in refrigerator.
5. For tadka, you can take one tablespoon of oil in a pan , let the oil get hot then add mustard seeds , curry leaves and asafoetida. Once the mustard seeds have crackles , add it to the instant pickle and mix it well. Pickle prepared this way cannot be stored longer and has to be consumed within few days.