Pickled Limes

On the 4th of June, I decided to made one of my favourite condiments that I normally serve with one of my home made curry dishes. A friend of mine at work had an excess of limes, so the time was right to make this wonderful Pickled Indian Limes. Now if you are going to make this, be warned. In winter it take for ages to pickle in the jar, however I dare say that in summer it would only take a week as suggested in the recipe I found.

Here is the method I used;

Pickled Indian Limes

Makes 3-4 500ml Jars, depending on the size of the limes.

20 limes, cut into quarters
1 cup sea salt
juice of 5 limes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
1 tablespoon fenugreek
1 cinnamon stick
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 green chillies, cut into long thin strips
2 red chillies, cut into long thin strips
1 teaspoon curry powder
extra lime juice (4-5 limes)
chilli oil

Mix the quartered limes and sea salt in a bowl. Pack salted limes into a a large sterilised jar and top with the freshly squeezed lime juice. Seal and leave for a week in a warm, sunny spot (5 weeks in winter!)

I find that these big swing top jars are the best for these sort of thing. The peel was soft and very flexible and the juice has gone very thick and was all the way up to the top of neck of the jars.

After the pickling time has elapsed, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the spices for 2-3 minutes. Be careful because they burn quickly. Transfer the limes to smaller, sterilised jars.
Stir in the fried spices (I removed the cinnamon stick), and chilli lengths. Top with more lime juice to cover and pour a little chilli oil over the top before sealing.

Store for 2 months before using. I dare say these would keep for quite a while due to the acid in the limes and the large amount of salt.

Here is my finished product. I managed to squeeze them into 4 big jars.

I must say that the pickle smells absolutely fantastic, and I wanted to demolish half a jar there and then. I can't wait for a few months, coz it will ready in time for a chickpea curry banquet. Add in the hot chilli chutney, brinjal pickles and home made yoghurt, it will be a banquet fit for the Raj!