Meena's Taste Mantra

Lemon Adrak Mirchi Pickle - No Oil - No Cook Pickle

Indians love their food be it the traditional sweets, to main course spreads and most important the chatpata, mouth watering pickles! For many a meal is not complete without having pickles! Of the various varieties of pickles available, each has to have oil and some amount of cooking in the process of making it - I mean the spicy ones!

This recipe - Lemon Adrak Chilli Pickle is Amma's own creation! And a mouth watering one too! Infact as I am wrting this post, my mouth is watering!!! The story behind this Eureka moment lies in me making for Appa the Adrak Amla Lemon Shot about 5 years back! Appa used to have a constant cough which used to bother him and no medicine was giving complete relief. That's when I concocted this for my sweetie pie and it has become a yearly ritual of making this and stocking it! Now for this Amla thingy I use organic lemons and Amma who loves lemons could not let to see the rind go to waste! I squeeze the lemon with the lemon squeezer..so the squeezed rind does have a bit of juice in it! That is the rind we use.

That's how this pickle came to being! Appa loves this and this is mildly spiced, no oil, less salt...but the flavour..simply awesome when had with anything!

INGREDIENTS

6 Lemon's rind - Rind after squeezing with lemon-squeezer

2 Lemons

2 tblsp Adrak | Ginger, finely chopped

1 tblsp Green Chilli, finely chopped

2 tsp Salt | to taste

Note: Instead of the squeezed lemon rind you can use in all 6 fresh Lemons. We made this partially with the squeezed lemon rind as we wanted to make the best use of the same. When made with just the fresh lemons, this pickle becomes more juicer!!

METHOD

Wash the fresh lemons well. Cut them into half. Further quarter the halves.
Cut the lemon rind also to the same size.
In a mixing bowl, add the cut lemon, lemon rind, chopped adrak and chopped green chilli.
Add salt and mix well with a spoon.
Transfer the mixed pickle to a clean air tight glass container and close the lid. The below image is of the pickle immediately when made!

Lemon Adrak Chilli Pickle - No Oil - No Cook Pickle

For a week, each day, give the bottle a nice shake once.
By the end of the week, the salt would have got mixed well, the lemon would have gone soft and juicier and the entire mass would be like a jelly! When it comes to this stage, the pickle is ready to eat.
Refrigerate it.

This pickle tastes wonderful as it ages. The lemons get so soft that it appears as if they are honey-soaked...that gooey soft texture and simply wonderful taste. Under refrigeration it will last for years!

We have used:

1. Go4Fresh's Organic Lemon

2. Tata Salt Lite

About C R Meena

(c) 2014 - 2016, Meena's Taste Mantra is the result of my ardent desire to share my recipes, with all who appreciate and celebrate food. These recipes are as a result of 60 years of cooking experience, influenced by tradition and exposure to various concepts, new recipes/ingredients and a passion for cooking - adapting to healthier alternatives.