Easy Lemon Pickle Recipe

Lemon pickle Karnataka style with step by step recipe.

It is a traditional pickle recipe followed in malnad regions, Western Ghats of Karnataka. A spicy tangy flavorful Indian condiment.

This traditional homemade Indian condiment has key ingredients like lemon, salt and pickle spices.

This is a popular South Indian lemon pickle recipe which is chatpata, tangy and spicy. This lemon pickle lasts for months if prepared and preserved in good conditions.

Indian lemon pickle can be made both sweet and spicy. The recipe given here is for spicy lemon pickle.

This nimbe hannina uppinakayi or nimbu ka achar (achar in Hindi means pickle) is a famous Indian preserved lemon condiment served in most of Indian household.

This pickle recipe is one of the best method for preserved lemons.

Have you tried making pickle at home or never made it for the fear of spoiling it, you need not worry, here is a traditional lemon pickle recipe with step by step instructions and tips to get perfect pickle that you can try.

The process seems to be long and laborious, but it’s worth making a preservative free pickle at home.

Check a quick video of how to make Karnataka style lemon pickle and try this in your kitchen. If you have enjoyed the video do subscribe to Dice n Cook Youtube channel for more food videos.   

Other popular pickle recipes on blog

Instant Fresh Red Dates Pickle Click here

Raw Mango Pickle Click here

Amla or Indian gooseberry pickle Click here

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About Lemon Pickle

There are numerous recipes of making lemon pickle in different regions of India. Indian lemon pickle recipe with step-by-step recipe followed here is the one that I have learnt from my aunt.

It is a traditional fermentation way of pickling lemons using salt.

Lemon pieces are fermented in airtight jars for 12 to 15 days and then pickle spices are added to enhance the flavors of lemons. At the end pickle is tempered with oil and stored in airtight glass jars.

On aging the pickle becomes saucy and peel is soft juicy. If the lemons are juicy then you end up with saucy pickle and they taste heavenly.

Few of the instant lemon pickle recipes followed by cooks in Indian household during functions ceremonies and party is by cooking the lemon pieces and then cooling it. Later pickle masala is added.

Why you would love lemon pickle recipe

It is always good to serve homemade pickle compared to store brought pickle

• Its vegan homemade condiment
• Traditional South Indian lemon pickle
• Easy to make
• Plant based pickle recipe
• Flavoursome pickle
• Homemade and healthy
• Preservative free pickle recipe
• Less oil pickle recipe
• Dairy free pickle recipe
• Vegetarian pickle

Next let’s see what type of lemons are used

Lemons or lime

Lemons and lime both belong to citrus family. They are citric in nature with many health benefits, culinary uses. Both have a long history of traditional use in many dishes across the world.

Limes are green, more tart to taste, smaller in size and firm in texture. However, lemons are larger than limes and yellow in colour.

They have a strong, sour flavours. The fruit rind of both is having a bitter flavour. However, limes are more bitter compared to lemon rinds.

Limes are not unripe lemons as misunderstood by most of us.

Lemon is a versatile key ingredient in most of Indian and International cuisines. Lemon peel is also used as flavouring agent in baking.

In Indian kitchen they are used in preparing rasam, lemon rice, biryani, pickles and many other Indian recipes. They are used in salad dressing, sauces since they aid in digestion. They are used in garnishing, summer drinks and desserts.

Ingredient notes

Lemons – Lemons are the key ingredients in this pickle. I have used homegrown lemons from our garden. The skin of these lemons is thin compared to lime. These are light yellow in colour and big in size. These are juicy and fresh ripened well. I suggest not to use browned or discoloured lemons. Do not use lemons that are green or dried.

Lemons vary in tartness and sourness, so do a taste test, then decide on amount of spice and salt for the pickle.

Salt – Here is one more key ingredient in any pickle. Salt brined pickles remain fresh for a long period of time. Rock salt, kosher or table salt or Himalayan pink salt any of these which is available easily in your pantry can be used. I have used kalu uppu or rock salt in this recipe.

Mustard seeds or sasive – This is one of the key spice used in pickle masala for lemon pickle. Black mustard seeds are used. It gives a nice pungent flavour

Cumin or jeerige – Roasted cumin gives a nice aroma to pickle. Cumin also aids in digestion.

Red chilies – I have used byadagi red chilies, these give deep red colour to pickle and less spicy compared to guntur red chillies. They are wrinkled, long sized chilies used in making lemon pickles.

Asafoetida or hing – It gives nice aroma when added along with hot oil. I have used powdered asafoetida in this pickle recipe.

Oil – Refined sunflower oil is used for tempering. Use any oil of your choice and even odourless oil can also be used.

Equipment

Mixer grinder or spice blender – A high speed mixer grinder is suggested for blending pickle spices. Dry mixer jars should be used for powdering.

Mixing bowl – It is used for mixing the pickle with spice powder. Use a dry wide mouth glass bowl or a stainless steel bowl.

Spoon or ladle – Used in mixing spices and salted lemon pieces.

Airtight glass jar – This jar is used in salting the lemon pieces for 12 to 15 days.

Small glass jars – Used for storing the pickles

How to make lemon pickle (step by step recipe)

Preparation:

I have used 500 gm of lemons. Number of lemons for 500gm depends on size of lemons. So, if you are using small lemons, then you get more lemons.

The important preparation in lemon pickle making is choosing good quality fresh lemons.

Try to use lemons which are not brown or having any patches on lemons. Do not use half rotten lemons. Try not to use unripe or overripe lemons.

Wash the lemons well before using it. Wipe them with a cloth and keep them dry before chopping them.

Chopping lemons:

Use a sharp knife to chop the lemons, this minimizes the loss of juice from lemons while chopping.

Second important point to note is remove the seeds simultaneously as we are chopping.

Thirdly reserve small amount of juice that comes out while chopping lemons.

Cut the lemons into two halves horizontally. Take one half of lemon and chop it again. Some juice from lemon comes out while chopping. Do not throw this and store it in a bowl that can be used later. Lemon juice also helps to bring down the bitterness from peel when added to the pickle.

Take the small quarter and chop again into two pieces. This way we are chopping the lemon into eight pieces.

The number of pieces depends on size of lemons. The lemons I have used are big sized so chopped them into eight pieces. However, if you choose small lemons, go for fewer pieces.

The smaller the pieces, they become soft and gets easily blended with pickle masala.

At once chop all the lemons and keep aside the juice as well.

Salting the lemons:

In this recipe brined lemon pieces are used for pickling.

For salting select a ceramic barani or glass airtight jar which is clean and dry before use. Wash it well, wipe and sun dry for two to three hours. Salting helps in reducing the bitter taste of lemon peel.

If using ceramic barani, use a cloth and thread to close the lid tight. Using airtight jar is important for proper salting.

Since we keep lemon pieces and salt for 12 to 15 days. If the lid is not tight, there are chances of fungal growth in the brined lemons. So we need to take care of it.

Let’s see how to salt the lemons

The best method I follow for salting the lemons is, adding alternate layers of lemon pieces and salt.

We add alternate layers so that its easy to mix salt and lemon pieces over time.

First add few lemon pieces to bottom, next add salt. Again, add lemon pieces, next add few spoons of salt. This way add all the chopped lemon pieces and remaining salt. Fill up the entire jar.

Close the lid, make it airtight. Keep this mixture aside.

Set aside for 12 to 15 days. Every three days, shake the jar slowly, so that salt and lemon mix well.

After 15 days, you see that the salt has dissolved, and the mixture has become saucy. Lemon pieces become soft and salty.

• 

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This is ready for mixing with pickle masala.

Frying pickle masala spices:

The next step is frying pickle masala. While we are fermenting or incubating, we can prepare the pickle masala.

For pickle masala powder we are using mustard seeds, cumin and red chilies. We are going to dry roast all these individually.

Heat a thick bottom pan on medium heat, start frying mustard seeds. Fry on medium heat, until they slightly become light in colour and few of them start spluttering.

Remove them from pan and allow it to cool.

Next roast cumin seeds, until you get nice aroma. Cool them and keep aside as we roast red chilies next.

Next add red chilies and dry roast them well. Cool all roasted pickle spices.

Powdering pickle masala and mixing:

After roasting and cooling the pickle spices, we must powder them. Use a spice blender or high speed blender to powder them fine. I prefer to make a fine powder, so have used high speed blender.

This pickle spice blend can be stored for a month or more.

After 15 days of salting, lemon pieces would become soft and saucy. Take this salted lemon pieces in a mixing bowl.

Next add powdered pickle masala to the salted lemon. At this point we can adjust the quantity of pickle masala powder added to the lemons.

We can also adjust salt at this point. After adding pickle mixture, you can do a taste test and add salt if required.

Mix the pickle mixture using a clean dry spoon. Do not use wet spoon at this stage. This decreases the shelf life of pickle.

Tempering:

After mixing pickle spice with lemon pieces, we will do tempering. It gives a nice aroma to pickle and helps in extended shelf-life.

Heat oil in a pan, add asafoetida on low heat, fry well for few seconds.

Cool this and pour the tempering on pickle mixture. Use a dry wooden or stainless steel spoon and mix everything well. Now the pickle is ready.

After mixing the pickle, pour this back into one big airtight glass jar. Make it airtight and serve it after 3 to 4 days.

Keeping the pickle for 3 to 4 days, this will help the pickle spices to blend well with the salted lemon.

Colour of pickle:

The colour of pickle depends on the type of red chilies used. If we use guntur red chilies, the intensity of red colour is low. However, if we use kashmiri red chilies or bydagi red chilies, colour is bright dark red colour.

The colour of pickle will change from red to reddish brown as we store pickle over time or when it matures over time.

Storing Lemon Pickle

It is always suggested that pickle is stored in glass jar or ceramic jars for keeping it healthy and plastic free.

The glass jars or ceramic jars should be well cleaned with water to remove any stains. Wiped with a clean cloth and sun-dried for a day. This way you can keep it clean and dry from moisture. This is the method I follow to sterilize the glass bottles used for storing pickles.

Pickle can be stored in small bottles instead of storing them in large glass jar. However if you store in large bottles, make sure to take out a little quantity in small bottles for serving. This way the stock batch remains fresh and free from getting spoilt. Use a clean dry spoon every time you serve the pickle.

If you follow all the above steps, lemon pickle lasts for many weeks or months. If refrigerated can be stored for 6 months.

The other trick to preserve the lemon for a very long time is add some extra oil on top of the main pickle bottle. This prevents spoilage and formation of mould on the surface. Increases the shelf life of pickle.

Serving suggestions

South Indian dishes are never complete without pickle be it a festive spread or function ceremony. It adds a great flavour to any dish.

Few favourite ways to serve them and best combinations are dal-rice or rasam rice with lemon pickle. Any kind of vegetable paratha with pickle makes a great combination.

Its great side dish for train journeys to be served with any Indian flatbread, dosa. Tastes best with curd rice and khichdi as well.

When you don’t have any dish cooked for your weekday lunch or dinner, just make some hot rice and add coconut oil with lemon pickle. Gently mix everything and eat, it tastes delicious. Its taste perfect with cooked hot brown rice.

Possible variations

Few of my relatives add a teaspoon of roasted methi seeds for the pickle masala along with mustard and cumin.

Green chilies can be added while fermenting lemon pieces and later mix with mustard-cumin spice powder. Thereby completely removing red chilies. Birds eye chilies are the best.

Coconut oil tempering can be done instead of refined oil.

Tempering can be done with whole garlic instead of asafoetida, or plain oil can be done.

Turmeric powder can also be added while making the pickle.

Guntur red chilies can be added instead of bydagi red chilies.

If you feel lemon juice is less, you can add extra juice squeezed from lemons.

The possible variation to this pickle is adding slices of mango ginger pieces and green pepper along with lemon slices.

We can also dry roast rock salt for few minutes to remove any moisture. However cool them and use in the recipe.

Table salt can be swapped for rock salt in the process of salting lemon pieces.

Red chili powder can be added instead of red chilies. To get bright red colour, you can add little Kashmiri red chilies.

If you have some leftover pickle masala powder or achari masala, it can be used to make achari paneer or achari paratha.

Tips to make a perfect lemon pickle

Always remember to use moisture free and dry knife, chopping board, mixing glass bowls and spoon. You can sundry them before using it. If using oven safe bowls and jars, during winters if you have an oven, you can simply dry them in oven at 100°C.

Always use a wide mouth bowl for mixing the pickle to avoid the mess while mixing.

In general, all spices, storing jars, mixing bowl, lemons, tempering mixture everything should be at room temperature before you start making pickle. No cold, warm or hot ingredients are used in making pickle.

Thin skin pickling lemons should be used otherwise we endup making a bitter pickle. Deseeded lemon pieces should be used for pickle. If seeds are used the pickle becomes bitter.

Adjust the amount of red chilies and salt as per sourness of lemon.

Always cool the pickle spices before powdering it. This prevents moisture from collecting while powdering or uneven grinding of spices.

Do not fry the pickle spices together since mustard and cumin take different time interval. If they are fried together they get burnt as mustard takes more time.

Always add cooled tempering to pickle, if you add hot oil it tends to spoil the pickle.

Caution: Any pickle should be consumed in moderate. This rule applies for lemon pickle as well. Consuming them in moderate amounts is generally safe, since lot of salt and red chilies are added. Not recommended for people with high acidity or heart burn issues as lemons are highly acidic.

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Frequently asked questions

Can this recipe be made glutenfree?

If you prefer glutenfree pickle, then avoid asafoetida or hing in the tempering.

Can this pickle be made sweet?

No this cannot be made sweet pickle, I have other recipe on blog which is whole lemon sweet and spicy chutney.

Can I make ghee tempering?

No usually oil is used in tempering pickles. Ghee doesn’t taste good for pickles.

Can any oil be used in tempering?

Yes we can use any oil like sunflower oil, coconut oil, mustard oil or gingerly oil in this pickle.

Can I use regular chili powder?

Yes you can use regular chili powder, however, add as per spiciness and sourness of lemons. For intense colour you can add little Kashmiri red chili powder.

Can I refrigerate the pickle?

Yes it can be refrigerated and used when required

What is the shelf life of lemon pickle?

Lemon pickle under refrigeration stays good for 6 months. If the room temperature is very low or in winters, it can be stored at room temperature.

If the pickle is kept at room temperature during humid and rainy seasons, stays good for a month.

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