Lemon Pickle / Nimma Avakaya

 

I never thought I will even learn to make pickles but the Lemon Tree in my garden made me learn this too. 

 Thanks to my friend who made this pickle for us last year and who gave tips to me when I made this.

Thanks to the Lemon Tree too.

My family likes pickles a lot and we always need some pickle to eat with curd rice.

I have used big Lemon so the qunatities of the ingredients are also according to that. Quantity of the ingredients may change for small size lemon. 

Ingredients

12 Big Lemon

3/4 cup Salt

1 tablespoon Fenugreek Seeds

1+1 tablespoon Mustard Seeds

1 cup Chilli Powder

2 tablespoon Oil

1. Clean all the Lemon and remove water using a cloth.There shouldn't any moisture on Lemon. Cut Lemon into 2 halves.Remove all seeds. Squeeze each one 2-3 times to extarct juice from it.Cut each half Lemon into 8 pieces (If you are using small lemons cut each half into 4 pieces).


2. Take the lemon pieces into a bowl and the pieces into another big bowl. Measure 3/4 cup Salt and keep it ready.Salt should be added to Lemon pieces immediately after cutting.Mix them well. Dry lemon pieces and lemon juice seperately under sun for 3 days. Mix the pieces well before drying it under sun everyday....


3. After 3 days  of drying , add lemon juice to the pieces and mix them well. Add Chilli Powder. Don't mix it now. 

4. In a small pan dry roast Fenugreek seeeds to golden brown and let it cool. Dry roast a tablespoon of Mustard seeds seperately in the same pan.Leave it to cool.


5. In the same pan heat 2 tablespoons of Oil and add Mustard seeds. When Mustard seeds crackle pour it on Chilli Powder. This hot Oil on Chilli Powder gives a nice maroon colour to the Pickle(Tip from my friend). Mix it well.


6. Grind both roasted Mustard seeds and Fenugreek seeds to a fine powder. Add this powder to lemon pieces and mix well.

7. Store in a air tight container. You can start eating the pickle after 3 days. This pickle will last for an year.