Fauzia's Kitchen Fun

Lime Pickle

112

Lime Pickle

I love pickles, and the tangy spicy flavour of lime pickle (achari ya ndimu) goes wonderfully well with most rice and curry dishes, making it the ideal accompaniment for many meals.
Preparing the pickle is relatively an easy process, however the ‘pickling’ process involves leaving the jar of limes in the sun for several days or weeks, depending on the intensity of the sun.  The end result though is well worth the patience!  🙂
Servings 4 Cups

Ingredients
  

  • 10-15 ripe thin-skinned yellow limes
  • 1 cup approximately freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 10-20 whole red chillies more for hotter pickle, less for a mild one
  • 1-2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp. chilli powder
  • 1 glass jar with a tight fitting lid

Instructions
 

  • Wash and completely dry all the limes.  There should be no water on any of them.  Cut each lime into 4 pieces or even 8 sections if you are using larger limes.  Put them in a clean and dry bowl.  Add the salt, chilli powder and turmeric powder.
    Blend the dried chillies with some of the freshly squeezed lime juice. Pour this mixture onto the limes and give everything a good mix.  Add more lime juice to just about cover the limes.  Give everything one final mix and taste the salt/chilli.  Remember the flavour will mellow slightly as it pickles.  You can adjust salt/chilli as per your taste.
    Transfer everything into a glass jar, close it tight and place it in the sun.  It will need to stay in the sun for about a week or up to a month depending on the climate/season, but you can open and stir using a dry spoon every other day to make sure everything is well combined.
    At the end of the pickling process, the limes will tenderize and the liquid will thicken around the soft limes.  Serve them with your meals and enjoy!  The pickle can keep for several months and up to a year if you refrigerate it.
    Enjoy!  🙂

Notes

The key to good pickle is to ensure that you are using clean and DRY utensils at all times.  Any moisture would make the pickle spoil very quickly.  In order to make sure that it lasts you a good long time, take care to clean and dry everything before starting.

Join the Conversation

  1. A.a sis made da lime pickle
    A.a sis made da lime pickle but after da lemon juice thickend it reduced and my hubby likes da juice can i add more lemon juice or vinegar to make it juicy

    1. W/Salaam, yes you can add
      W/Salaam, yes you can add lemon juice as much as needed, plus some salt and spice if you like, then shake the jar well and put it back in the sun for some more days.

  2. Assalaamualaikum
    May I know if I can sun dried the lime before making the pickle please?

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