- Prep Time: 1h 30 min
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
Hot and Sweet Lemon Dates Pickle Recipe
Hot and Sweet Lemon Pickle with Dates Recipe by Tasty Kerala is the best pickle recipe without using any pickle powder. Savor it with any Biriyani and you will never want another side dish. The perfect blend of spicy and sweet taste makes the best homemade pickle for those who like to both tastes at the same time. Also, you can preserve it for many days without getting ruined.
Ingredients
- Lemon - 5kg
- Sesame Oil - 500 ml
- Salt - As Required
- Asafoetida Powder
- Fenugreek Powder
- Mustard Seeds
- Dates
- Sugar
- Garlic
- Green Chilly
- Kashmiri Chilly Powder - 100gms
- Natural Vinegar
Instructions
- Sear the lemons in Sesame Oil
- Clean the seared lemons with a cloth to remove oil, lime juice, and burnt substances
- Slice each lemon into 4 pieces
- To the lemon slices, add salt as required
- Add Asafoetida powder and Fenugreek powder
- Mix well and keep aside for 1hr
- Pour sesame oil into a pan and heat it
- Add mustard seeds
- Add garlic, sliced green chilly and cook well
- Add chilly powder
- Add the mix of fenugreek and asafoetida powder
- Add sliced lemons and dates
- Stir well and cook until the lemons turn hazy
- Add a bit of sugar to balance the sweet and spicy tastes
- Finally add few teaspoons of natural vinegar
- Check the salt level and add more if required to balance the bitter taste of Vinegar
- Hot and Sweet Lemon Dates Pickle is Ready
Nimbu Ka Khatta Meetha Achar Recipe by Tasty Kerala is the best pickle recipe without using any pickle powder. In Kerala, we call it Hot and Sweet Lemon Dates Pickle. Savor it with any Biriyani and we will never want another side dish. The perfect blend of spicy and sweet taste makes this the best homemade lime pickle for everyone.
The sweet lemon pickle is the best combination with any Biriyani. The “naranga achar” becomes hot & sweet when we add dates and also a bit of sugar. In north India, popularly known as the nimbu ka khatta meetha achar. In Tamilnadu, as Elumichai Oorugai.
About the Preparation
The main ingredients of this pickle recipe other than lemon and dates are sesame oil, chilly powder, asafoetida powder, fenugreek powder, salt, sugar, and vinegar. Also, we use garlic, green chilly, and mustard seeds.
We have used top-quality lemon from our home garden for this video. Nothing can replace the locally grown fresh lemons. Natural vinegar ensures proper preservation without any synthetic materials. We have used natural vinegar called “chorukka” in some parts of Kerala. It is made out of Toddy using traditional methods.
This lemon pickle can be preserved for years as we have also done searing properly. As shown in the video, we have used Sesame oil for searing. Another alternative was to steam the lemons in an idly maker to cook them before slicing. But it could have added water presence, making it hard to store for long.
In the end, we have also added sugar to balance out the sour and sweet taste. A better method could have been to use more dates instead of sugar to increase the sweetness.
Watch the sweet lime pickle video recipe with English subtitles turned ON if you don’t understand Malayalam. Do share your valuable comments after trying out this mouth-watering recipe.
