We all know the health benefits of probiotics, however most of us do not know that Pickles are also a source of probiotics. They are an accompaniment to Indian meal. Every culture across the globe enjoys an assortment of pickled foods. Kimchi in Korea, miso in Japan, salted duck eggs in China, salsas in Mexico, are some to name.
Lemon is one of the popular fruit used for making pickle and keeping the digestive system healthy. Store-bought lemon pickle have oil but traditional pickles of North India does not contain any oil.
Housewives in India always take some time out in the afternoons blending the myriad spices needed for yearly supply of pickles, preserves and chutneys. Each household has their own twist on pickles. This is a typical countryside Punjabi pickle which has black salt, black pepper and ajwain (carom seeds) as the essential spices. They are all good in terms of regulation of bacterial growth and keeping the digestive system in good shape.
Ajwain is widely used with some vegetables that are quite complex to digest, as I did in my oven fried Arbi.
Black salt, also known as kala namak or sanchal, is actually pinkish, rather than black and has a very distinctive mineral taste. As per Ayurveda it is a cooling spice with full of therapeutic benefits. It is in fact the most beneficial form of salt, because unlike ordinary salt it does not increase the sodium content of the blood.
This pickle is the easiest and takes very little time to prepare. All you have to do is to mix everything up and then place the jar in the sunniest corner of your house, where it should get sun for 3-4 hours.
Indian lemons (lime) usually have thin rind, whereas the lemons available here are quite thick skinned. But no worries, it’s actually the rind that we are pickling in brine. In my home this lemon pickle was always made with left over peels after making lemonade. The yellow zest with white pith is the most valuable, though it need more acid and longer time to soften.
DIGESTIVE LEMON PICKLE
While making pickle, make sure the container, spoon, jar are all completely moisture free otherwise the pickle will be spoiled.
I uploaded a video on You tube in June 2021.
Ingredients:
900 g juicy blemish free lemons
1 3/4 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tsp tiny seeds ajwain (carom /lovage / bishop’s seed)*
1 tbsp black salt
1/4-1/3 cup) salt
juice of one lemon
* if you do not find the tiny ajwain seeds then coarsely grind the regular ajwain seeds.
Method:
Wash lemons and let it air dry completely. Chop off the green stem from top of lemons. Cut the lemon into quarters and place in a glass or steel bowl. You can remove the seeds at this point( I leave it in because they come out itself when the pickle is ready). Add salt, black salt, black pepper, ajwain and turmeric.
Mix with a spoon. Fill the spiced lemons and juice in a sterile glass or ceramic jar. Keep the jar in a place (window sill or porch) where sun can reach and make it cook slowly in its warmth.
Shake or stir each day with a dry clean spoon so that all the pieces get soaked in the collecting juice at the bottom. It takes about 4-5 weeks or longer for lemon pieces to get mellower and thick juices to stick to them.
This pickle does not need refrigeration. The older it gets the better it tastes, when the salt and spices are completely absorbed. After the pickle is ready, you can safely store it in a cupboard and it will last for 6 months or even more (In the top picture the bowl holds the 7 years old pickle)
Note:
Sour lemons mixed with these spices will suit most people’s taste buds, however you can add sugar ( after a week of placing in sun) and adjust salt to get a combination of sweet, sour and tangy all in one bite.
Diet To Go Coupons
Mixture of this kinds of food means a healthy meal.
anne
I love pickle of any kind ! And my mouth nearly water when I saw this ! lol This recipes sounds very interesting ! Really great as a side dish or appetizer , perhaps ?! ;D
Baker Street
Making your own pickles has been such a big tradition in India and even then I’ve never tried making it myself. Thanks for sharing a recipe that I’m totally going to try. Love lemon pickle!
Tina Bk
I have never pickled anything, so I found this post to be particularly interesting. The shelf life and the ease of making this is very surprising. The spices with the sour does sound like a tasty mix and I can see a lot of food pairings that would go quite well with this. Great post!
Choc Chip Uru
My mummy tells stories of how they had the exact same way of dealing with digestion in India! Thanks for the wonderful post about it 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Navaneetham Krishnan
My mum makes bottles of it and we eat all the way with rice. I don’t make them because mummy normally gives a small bottle to me.
We simply love this pickle and you know my kind of food is spicy, sour and salty, so how not to look through your recipe. Its slightly different because mummy used lime and salt only. Yours has more flavors with other ingredients added inside.
stavenmorris
The Lemon Pickle is a very useful for the Digestive. I am also eaten Lemon Pickle daily and its very useful for the get a vitamin c.
lemonade stand design
Maureen @ Orgasmic Chef
What an interesting pickle. I love pickles but haven’t made them for years.
We used to travel through Japan frequently and I was always amazed at the different pickles served with every meal.
Now I know why. 🙂
Coco
Never heard of ajwain – gotta find them. Learned something new today. Thanks!
Kimberly (Badger Girl)
This is so interesting. I love lemons and I love pickles but would have never thought to mix the two. This looks great. Thanks for the great recipe and background info. 🙂
Malli
Love lemon pickleof any kind… this one sounds so easy to make and good for you …Now I must make this at home. Thanks for all the tips.I haveregular ajwain so I’ll take your advice and powder it.
Balvinder Ubi
Malli, just coarsely grind the ajwain. You can use as it is if you are OK with the bitter taste.
Lizzy
I’ve never made pickles, but I bet yours are yummy!
Claudia
I am planning on pickling and canning with husband for the first time this summer. Bookmarked – because these would so much flavor to easy meals.
Torviewtoronto
lovely pickle I made lemon pickle recently and waiting to see the results this flavourful addition of spices look wonderful will remember it after I see what happens with the other one 🙂
mjskit
What a very interesting recipe for pickled lemons! I love all of the spices and can only imagine how good this must be! Thanks for sharing!
Shirley Tay
How cool! I gotta learn what’s probiotics & a nice recipe. Like Lizzy, I haven’t tried my hands on pickles.
Tiffany
I take a daily probiotic and I have NO IDEA that pickles are a probiotic! THANK YOU for sharing this with us!
Soni
Oh I love Pickles but never tried making them at home!This sounds like a great way to start :)Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Akila
We too this pickle at home but with different spices…. Need to do ur version once….
Asmita
Hi Balvinder,
Your lemon pickle looks so delicious!I love lemon pickle with a simple dal chawal. Yummy!
Suzi
What a great and informative post. I have preserved lemons but never pickled them. I love this and would like to make them. Congrats on the Top 9 my friend, wonderful.
Balvinder Ubi
You are mistaken Suzi, I am not on Food buzz Top 9.
But thanks for the comment and do try the pickle and let me know how everything goes.
Balvinder Ubi
I checked in the evening, You are right. If its not for you I would not even notice of being coming into Top9. Thanks once again.
mireia badia
I’m not a realy fan of pickles but this sounds interesting!
Gabriela Steve
We love the recipe! We stared fermenting over a week ago to start incorporating fermented foods into our daily meals for the benefits of the healthy bacteria it produces! We also use gluten free recipes, if you get a chance, take a look at our blog:)
cookingvarieties
hi balvinde… yes ! i love this pickle, its done differently-first time i see one where you cut up the lemon.. bookmarked with thanks, appreciate the extra knowledge on lemon benefits. have a nice day
ratna
Now I know what I am going to do next weekend, thanks for posting recipe of lemon pickle.
Ansh
What an informative post. I just made a batch of Nimki .. a lemon pickle from Bihar with just salt and whole lemons. this one is next. thanks for sharing.
Sneh
Hey can u please help me out with recipe of nimki .made it with whole size lemons dipped in salt only .but only some of them are sinked in while others are still above the salt bed .should I add warm water into the jar.
Balvinder
You can check her blog http://www.spiceroots.com/ for nimki recipe or email her for more information.
Prasad
Hi Neetu,
I bumped into your lemon pickle recipe while searching for “Are well-preserved homemade Indian pickles probiotic?” While I now learn that your recipe is definitely probiotic, would you be aware of how it is with the myriad pickles that you come across this vast nation of ours (I mean, India… not your adopted homeland)? All of us are aware of the uniqueness of all lemon pickles – they get better with age (like some wines!) – but your recipe is oil-free and easy to make, even for a kitchen novice. At our home, my wife make raw-mango pickles (in oil) and I don’t this variety would be probiotic, would it?
Could you tell me one thing please? You Punjabis are known for a mixed-vegetable pickle, with green chillies added.. Suppose the recipe you have given is followed for a mixed-vegetable pickle, do you thing I could get a probiotic product?
Thank you for your recipe… my wife will try it out soon and have sun go to work on it. God bless you!
Prasad
Balvinder
Prasad , first of all thank you for bumping into my site and leaving a comment. You have already done research on probiotics and I assume you know that pickles that have oil or even vinegar in it prevents natural fermentation so do not come under probiotics. I guess this answers your question about punjabi vegetable pickle which is laced with oil.
I would love to hear from you after your wife try out this lemon pickle recipe.
Theresa
This is really good and easy to make. We loved it 🙂
Balvinder
Thanks for trying out, glad you liked it.
charu
that achar is so yummy. I remember the dark colour we got in delhi.. the ones I’ve made in Toronto take a while, especially in winter. I would love to see your gf cauliflower parantha recipe..
Balvinder
Gluten free gobhi paratha is on my blog. Check here.