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Title: Nimbu Ka Achar (No Oil Indian Lime Pickle)
Categories: Indian, Pickles
Yield: 1 Batch

3 lb Baby limes, lemons, or any
- thin-skinned citrus
2 tb Kala namak (black salt);
- substitute with table salt
6 tb Kali mirch
- (black peppercorns)
6 tb Ajwain (carrom seeds)
3/4 ts Hing powder (asafoetida)
2 tb Red chilli flakes;
- or to taste
3 tb Sea salt; up to 4 tb,
- or as needed, substitute
- with table salt *
1/2 c Fresh lime juice
- (10 to 12 limes)
1 tb Granulated sugar; up to 2 tb

Needed:

* Kitchen Towels
* A large, rectangular glass dish
* Plastic Wrap sheet
* Clean, dry Wooden Spoons
* Wide-Mouthed, Sterile Canning Jars

Put all the limes in a colander and wash thoroughly under running
water. Let drain in the colander over the kitchen sink for at least
15 to 20 minutes. Spread the limes over clean kitchen towels and rub
to completely dry them. You can put them in sun too for this purpose.
Ensure that the limes are completely dry before you start cutting
them.

Next, with clean hands, quarter or half the limes (depends on the
size you like) and remove as much seeds you can. Once cut, transfer
the wedges on to a large glass dish, spread them in an even layer.
Sprinkle black salt over the limes and with clean, dry hands, rub the
salt with the limes. Cover the glass dish with a plastic wrap, poke
few holes in the it & let sit in the full sun for 3 days. You will
see that the lime wedges will start to dry (slightly) & there is
liquid at the bottom.

On the fourth day, coarsely grind the kali mirch in your coffee
grinder. Put the ajwain next & pulse a few times. Take out the
mixture in bowl & mix hing powder, red chilli flakes and sea salt
(along with sugar, if using) with it. Sprinkle this mix over the lime
wedges along with lime juice. With clean hand, thoroughly mix
everything together. Again, cover the glass dish with a fresh plastic
wrap, poke few holes in it and let sit in full sun for 15 days. You
will need to stir the mix once a day using a clean,dry wooden spoon.
You will see that as the days progress the skin of limes start
softening & turning brown along with liquid at bottom getting thicker
than on first day.

At the end of 15 days, check the salt of the pickle again & adjust (if
required), mix up the pickle well with clean, dry wooden spoons and
transfer to canning jars. Don't fill to the top of the jar but at the
same time don't leave a lot of room for bacteria in air to get moldy.
Leaving 1/2" space from the top is okay. If you are using jars with
metal lid, you will need to cover the mouth of jar with plastic wrap
to avoid the contact between pickle & metal. Let the jars sit in sun
until the limes are totally soft, brownish in color & the liquid is
more like a syrup. You will need to shake the jars periodically. In
Las Vegas sun, it took about 3 weeks to get that stage.

There is no need to refrigerate. Sun-cooked pickles normally last at
room conditions. Always use a clean spoon to serve the pickles, they
keep 2 months or years together.

Serve the pickle as a side to your meals, grind and add to marinade of
meats. I like to spread the pickle on top of my crackers as well as on
flatbread crisps.

Notes:

Any thin-skinned citrus fruits will work in this recipe: baby
tangerines (narangi), kumquats etc.

Do not under salt your pickles else they turn bad over a period of
time.

Recipe by sanjuro

Recipe FROM:
<gopher://sdf.org/0/users/sanjuro/indian-food/nimbu-achar.txt>

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