I can’t remember why, but for the longest time, I used to dislike lime pickle. My mom thinks it may be because the kind that is served at restaurants did not appeal to me. Well, that experience also put me off home-made lime pickle since I associated it with that same restaurant taste.
Fast forward to until a year ago, when my mom served me freshly made lime pickle with my favorite curd rice. And just like that I was hooked! I asked her the recipe and it seemed quite easy. I decided to try it out.
Lime or Lemon?
Good question. It can be either. Interestingly, growing up in India, I always had lime and if you had asked me back then, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between the two! Now I know.
Lemons are very close cousins of limes, but they look and taste slightly different. Lemons are more yellow in color and are probably a shade less tart than limes. They are thicker skinned and bigger too. You wouldn’t go wrong if you picked lemons for this recipe, instead of limes.
Lime
Indian Lime Pickle
While there are several lime pickle recipes out there, this is my mom’s recipe. She’s been making this pickle for ages, so I consider this authentic. She recommends slightly riper limes rather than very green ones, since they may be somewhat bitter if they are unripe.
The key to this recipe is to marinate it for at least 3 days, with lime juice, turmeric, and salt. This softens the lime and helps create a nice tart sauce. The other important aspect of this recipe is the tempering with mustard and cumin seeds, whole dry chili peppers and a pinch of hing (asafetida).
In addition to their unique phytonutrient properties, lemons and limes are an excellent source of vitamin C, one of the most important antioxidants in nature. Vitamin C is one of the main antioxidants found in food and the primary water-soluble antioxidant in the body.
Check out our amazing pickle and chutney recipes here:
- Tart Spicy Pickled Cauliflower
- Spicy Raw Carrot Pickle (Gajar ka Achar)
- Pickled Chili Peppers
- Doddapatre Tambuli (Karpooravalli Thayir Pachadi)
- Flavorful Cilantro Mint Chutney
- Yellow Mung Raw Onion Chutney
- Cranberry Chutney with a South Indian Twist
- Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Chutney
- Tomato Chutney
- Raw Mango Fenugreek Salsa
- Ridge Gourd Chutney
- Malabar Chutney
- Coconut Tomato Chutney
- Coconut Chutney
- Flavorful Cilantro Mint Chutney
- Smoky Eggplant Chutney
- Zero Waste Butternut Squash Peel (Sippe) Chutney
- Superfood Moringa Leaf Chutney
Do you love our posts and recipes? We’d LOVE to see your creations so click a photo and tag us on Instagram with the hashtag #healthyindian3 and please give a star (★) rating below. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube & Tumblr for healthy, easy and delicious recipes and lifestyle tips.
*There could be affiliate links in this blog. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Indian Lime Pickle
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 Limes - or Lemons
- 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Fenugreek Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Red Chili Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Sea Salt
Tempering
- 1/2 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 1/4 Teaspoon Asafoetida (Hing)
- 2 Peppers Dry Chili Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
Instructions
- Cut 3 limes or lemons into small pieces. Cut the 4th lime in half. Cut one half into small pieces and use the other half to extract lime juice for the marinade.
- Add turmeric powder, salt, lime juice, and mix well.
- Transfer to a jar, tighten lid, shake well, and set it on a kitchen counter (or pantry) at room temperature. This needs to sit for 3 days. Once or twice a day, shake the jar to ensure everything is mixed well.
- On day 4, transfer contents to a clean, dry bowl.
- In a pan, heat oil. Add tempering ingredients (cumin and mustard seeds, dry chili peppers and hing) and wait till the seeds crackle.
- Add tempering, chili powder, fenugreek powder to the lime/lemon pickle and mix well.
- Transfer the pickle to a clean, dry jar with an air tight lid and refrigerate. This pickle should be good for several weeks in the fridge.
- Serve with curd rice and sliced cucumber.
Notes
Nutrition
