I love this pickle. It is spicy, tart and slightly bitter.
It cleanses your palette while stuffing yourself during a Sadya, particularly
Onam Sadya. So when these lemons were available at the local Kerala store, I decided
to try my hand at making this. I decided to try the red version full of spices
instead of the white version that usually contains very little or no spices. I
have just tasted the one day old pickle and loved it. I am now waiting for it
to mature for about a week before digging into it.
Presenting you "The Vadukapuli Pickle"
Presenting you "The Vadukapuli" - see how it compares to the regular lemon.
Ingredients
·
Two wild lemons/vadukapuli lemons (approximately
750 gm). Cut the lemons into 1 cm thick roundels and check if they have thin
skins or thick skins. If the white spongy stuff (pith) below the skin is thick,
it is better to get rid of that. This is what adds the bitterness to the
pickle. So cut out the pulp from the pith and chop the pulp into small (0.5 cm)
pieces. Cut out the skin from the pith and chop them up into small pieces. The
skin has a lot of flavor and so we should use that. If the lemons have thin
pith, you can simply cut them into small pieces without going through the
hassle of removing the pith.
·
4 tbsp of finely chopped ginger
·
5 green chillies cut into thin roundels.
·
2 tbsp of Kashmiri chilly powder
·
2 tbsp of regular chilly powder
·
4 tbsp of gingelly oil
·
Salt as per need
·
1 cup of water
·
¾ tsp of turmeric powder
·
¾ tsp of fenugreek powder (dry roast 1 tsp of
fenugreek seeds and then powder them to a fine powder)
·
¾ tsp of asafoetida powder
·
1 tbsp of sugar or 1” piece of jaggery (optional)
Tempering Ingredients
·
1 tbsp of gingelly oil
·
1 tsp mustard seeds
·
2 sprigs of curry leaves
·
3 whole dry red chilly broken into smaller
pieces
Method
·
Take a kadhai (deep round pan) and heat the oil
·
Once the oil is hot, reduce the flame and add
the chopped ginger and green chillies. Sauté for around 2 min.
·
Add the chopped lemon pieces and sauté for 3-4
minutes. Add the sugar/jaggery after about 2 minutes into this step.
·
Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and
asafoetida powder. Sauté for another 2 minutes.
·
Add the water and bring the mixture to a boil
and add more salt if required.
·
Turn off the flame
·
Now add the fenugreek powder and mix everything
well.
·
Heat another pan and add 1 tbsp of gingelly oil
·
Once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds and after
they splutter add the broken whole red chilly and then add the curry leaves and fry until the curry
leaves are crisp.
·
Pour this tempering including the oil over the
pickle.
·
Cool the mixture and then transfer to a storage
bottle. Make sure the bottle is clean and sterilized with hot water and has an airtight lid.
·
After transferring the pickle to the bottle, heat and then cool a few tablespoons of gingelly
oil and pour this over the pickle so that oil forms a layer on top of the
pickle. This will prevent the formation of fungus and the bottle need not be
refrigerated. If you already have a layer of oil on the top, do not add more oil. You can add more oil as you start using the pickle and as the layer of oil on the top gets depleted. Store the bottle in a cool, dark and dry place.
·
Use the pickle after about a week or at least after 2-3 days. With age, the lemon skin will become more and more tender.
·
Always use clean and dry spoons to serve the
pickle from the bottle. This will prevent the pickle from getting contaminated.
·
If you want this to be less spicy, use 4 tbsp of
Kashmiri chilly powder and avoid the regular chilly powder. You can also reduce
the number of green chillies.
Go and make that pickle now. Experiment and enjoy.
