Katte Ka Meetha Achar - Hill Lime Sweet Pickle (No Oil)

Wash and wipe the Hill Lemon with a kitchen towel, cut them into small pieces and place them in a microwave safe bowl.

Close the lid and microwave them for 3-6 minutes. You need to stop and check the softness of the skin in between.

Alternately, you can place the whole lemon in a steaming basket and pressure cook it till three whistles. Do not overdo it or the lemon will become a pulp and also turn bitter.

Once the skin is soft to touch and breaks easily, let the lemon cool completely.

Once cool, transfer them to a wide glass bowl and add, salt, chilli powder, black salt, turmeric powder, asafoetida, sugar and jaggery powder (some people make a syrup and add that but I just put the shakkar as it is and give it a good mix).

Now pound cloves, cinnamon stick, black pepper corns, seeds of black cardamom and ajwain seeds coarsely in a mortar and pestle. You can grind them to powder too. Slightly dry toast the mix with fenugreek and mustard seeds on low heat.

Don' over toast or the spices or the mix will become bitter.

Add this spice mix to the lemon mixture and give it a stir. You can coarsely ground the fenugreek and mustard seeds too or use them whole like I did.

Once all the ingredients are mixed, taste the pickle to add anything to suit your taste. The sugar and salt will make the lemons sweat and release the juice. That’s a good sign and will make the pickle taste better and help in preservation

As the days pass the pickle will thicken a bit.

Spoon the tangy sweet spiced up lemon pickle in a clean dry airtight jar, close the lid properly. Your instant Hill lemon pickle is ready to eat. You can keep the jar in dry summer sun for a few days to mature but it is optional.

Relish this lip smacking pickle with curd rice, hot parathas, roti or just about anything.