Summer months are famous for making pickle, applams, vadams etc ...I am not sure whether it is happening now but definetly my childhood days were filled with these ... come summer there is lot of planning happening for making these (they come in handy during rainy days). I would say it is still practised in lot of families. To beat the heat my mom, perima would get up early make the prep work to make the vadam batter (kooyu is what its called in tamil)... I wasn't really fond of the vadams but was sure interested in tasting the kooyu ... yum is the word! My mouth is watering as I write about it.. So it was not just vadams and applams but making pickle was also a major part of the summer program! Different varieties of mango pickle, lemon and goose berry pickle.. I miss those days.
This year if we have good summer like we had last year I am thinking of trying a hand at making vadams.... lets see how it goes ...will keep you posted.
Now coming to making of lemon pickle II version. This one can be stored for a longer time. The version I posted earlier (almost couple of years ago) was an instant pickle which will not stay good for more than a week or two.
Ingredients:
6 to 8 Big sized lemons
3 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Fenugreek (Dry roast it and powder)
1 1/2 Tsp Red Chilly powder (the one I have is very spicy)
4 TBSPN Sesame Oil
1 Tsp Mustard
Wash the lemons and cut them into 1 inch pieces.
Add salt and store it in a glass jar for 2 weeks.
Shake them everyday so that it will not get dry on the top and stays moist. Actually it is good to eat it this way too.
After 2 weeks. Take oil in a pan. Add mustard and let it splutter.
Add the lemon, red chilly powder and cook it for sometime.
Add the fenugreek powder and let it cook for couple more minutes.
Turn off the stove. Allow it to cool.
Store it in a glass jar. It will stay good for 3 to 6 months.
You will get 3/4th jar of lemon pickle (I used the smuckers jam bottle for storing it).
