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Lemon Pickle, Digestive Khatta Metha Nimbu Ka Achar

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Lemon pickle- Sweet and Sour Digestive Lemon Pickle made with Ayurvedic spices

Lemon pickle -I have already mentioned in my previous posts  that I love to eat and make different type of pickles that I’ve learnt from my grandmother. Lemon pickles have the longest shelf life among pickles, and usually stay fresh till they’re finished.

Today I am sharing a very authentic and popular khatta metha nimbu ka achar ki recipe which is a specialty from Uttar Pradesh. It is very good for digestion and stomach aches as a lot of spices that are used in ayurveda are added in it.Every year I make a large jar of this nimbu pickle.
The interesting characteristic of this pickle is that as the pickle ages it become more delicious and good for digestion. On my last India visit I found a 8 year old nimbu pickle jar in my mother’s pantry.which had become too dry and so my mother ground the pieces of the dried pickle in a grinder and made delicious digestive herbal lemon churan :).
If you like this, you may also want to try out these delicious pickles-

LEMON PICKLE

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LEMON PICKLE
Print Recipe
3.65 from 20 votes

Khatta Meetha Nimbu Ka Achar/Lemon Pickle

Sweet and Sour Lemon Pickle made with Ayurvedic spices
Prep Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour
Course: Pickles/Achar
Cuisine: Indian, Pickles
Keyword: lemon pickle, Neebu ka achar
Servings: 2 kg
Author: Anjana Chaturvedi

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg Lemons / Nimbu
  • 900 gms Sugar / Chini
  • 3/4 cup Ginger / Adrak sliced
  • 100 gms Black Salt / Kala Namak
  • 50 gm Rock salt / Sendha namak
  • 2 tsp Red Chilli powder / Laal mirch powder
  • 10 Black Myroblan / Harad / Haritiki
  • 10 Bengal Pepper / Long Pepper / Lendi Peepli

To grind and make powder-

  • 15 Bengal Pepper / Long Pepper / Lendi Peepli
  • 10 Black Cardamom / Badi Elaichi
  • 2 tsp Ginger Powder / Saunth
  • 2 tsp Peppercorns / Sabut Kali Mirch
  • 1.5 tsp Asafoetida / Hing powder
  • 2 tsp Cumin Seeds / Sabut Jeera
  • 25 Cloves / Lavang
  • 1.5 tsp Carom Seeds / Ajwain
  • 8 Black Myroblan / Harad / Haritiki

Instructions

  • Wash and wipe the lemons and then cut into 4 pieces.
  • Add salt in the lemon pieces and mix well and fill in a glass jar.
  • Close the jar with a plate or lid(don't use a airtight jar)and keep it in a warm place or in sunlight for a month or till the skin of lemons become soft.
  • Keep shaking or mixing the lemons in 2-3 days.
  • When lemon peel become soft after about a month then Grind all the spices listed in -to grind and make a powder
  • Now add chili powder, asafoetida, ground spice powder, sugar ,chopped ginger and 10 whole pipli and 10 whole harad in the lemons and mix well.
  • keep the jar in sunlight till the sugar syrup thickens slightly.
  • It may take about 15-25 days depending on the heat in the climate.
  • Serving suggestions - taste great with any fried snack, pakora, poori, mathri, kachori, khichdi or daal-rice.

Notes

peepli

Peepli

Harad

Harad

NOTE-
1-*When you have stomach ache or gastric problem, take out the whole harad or pipli and chew slowly.
2-Lemons with thin skin should be preferred to make this pickle.
3- You may use half sugar and half jaggary instead of using only sugar
4-Add sugar only after the lemon peel becomes soft,it may take about 30- 45 days depends on the quality of lemon and thickness of lemon.5-If you are making in small quantity then can remove the pips of lemon,but as I make it in large quantity so avoided that,as they can be removed while eating.
6- If you not get all the ingredients then add what ever spices you have , it still taste delicious, just add the exact proportion of lemon, salt and sugar.
7--Stays well for years or till it last.
 
 

Comments

  1. Teens says

    Hi ,
    I am a first timer with pickles and trying your recipe. as mentioned in steps wash lemons, cut and then add salt and keep it in jar. I followed the steps and its been 4 weeks. there is a strange smell and the lemons have some liquid. I want to be sure if it is softening correctly.

    • Anjana Chaturvedi says

      Hi its fine to have some liquid in the jar , do keep shaking the jar often till the lemons become soft

  2. Manira says

    Hi – I have had the lemons mixes with salt for a couple of weeks in an open covered glass jar on my window sill where I occasionally get the morning sun. The lemons and juice seems to have thickened and everything has a whitish coating – although it doesn’t look like mold (not black or green). Is this normal?

    • Anjana Chaturvedi says

      Hi- its normal, it is due to the salt, you should keep stirring or shaking the jar occasionally

  3. Prabha says

    Hi anjana ji
    Lovely recipe,
    Can you tell me if I use jaggery 100%: when do I put that.

    • anjanaskc says

      Hi Prabha, At jaggery along with the spices at step 6

  4. Padma says

    it is very cold here with not much sun. Am I still able to do this pickle if I put the jar on the window sill, even though the sun is not out all the time?

    • anjanaskc says

      yes you can do the pickle, keep in sun till the peel become soft

  5. Apreeta Singh says

    Can I use jaggery powder instead of sugar . This is my second batch. The first one was a big hit with friends and family ?

    • anjanaskc says

      Yes you can add jaggary or half jaggary and half sugar

  6. Apreeta Singh says

    Hello I am making this pickle. I have kept the lemons in salt and keeping it in sunlight for the last one week .the lemon slices are changing colour slightly brownish..is that ok . I am new to pickle making so sorry for such a basic question ?

    • anjanaskc says

      Hello Arpeeta,yes the lemons will keep changing the colour after adding salt,no worries about this,but do keep shaking the jar regularly .Your questions are welcome any time:)

  7. LK says

    Hello Maam, I am in the process of making this pickle. For the last 1 week i am keeping it in the sun. But unfortunately, it drizzled very lightly today while the pickle was outside. Not sure whether the light drizzle for couple of minutes is going to spoil the effort so far. Appreciate your comments. Thanks

    • anjanaskc says

      no worries ,just continue keeping it in sunlight for few weeks

        • LK says

          Awesome pickle !! At home it turned out to be a superhit. Thank you Maam for sharing the recipe.. Can this pickle be consumed during pregnancy?

          • anjanaskc says

            Thank you so much Lk,Glad that you loved this pickle. This pickle have good quantity of gram masalas so you can use little quantity once in a while or just avoid in the earler stage of pregnancy

  8. Vaishali says

    Hi.I have made lemon pickle at home i have put salt hing garam masala and black salt .But but the mixture tastes too salty with less garam masala.How can i add more garam masala in it?Moreover is it possible to lessen the salt in it?

    • anjanaskc says

      Hi Vaishali- when the lemons become soft and you add sugar in it then it will not taste too salty(if you have added the exact amount listed in the pickle recipe)you can add some more garam masala if you wish but wait till the pickle mature and absorb the flavours then add accordingly.

  9. Nancy O says

    I just bought Tops Lime Digestive Pickle just to be adventurous. While I like the taste it is quite strong. So I started surfing the net to find recipes I could use it in and can’t find any. Could you give me some suggestions on how to use this. Thank You NancyO

    • anjanaskc says

      Hi Nancy,I have not used Tops lemon pickle so no idea of the spices they have used but if its a oil free pickle then just add some sugar to balance the strong flavors.for the oil based pickle chop some lemons and add salt and sun cook for 20 days then add the softened lemons and some oil in the pickle and enjoy.

  10. Mayank Chaturvedi says

    How do I Thicken the syrup ? Its been in sunlight for abiut 20 days but not much change in thicjness.

    • anjanaskc says

      It will take some time,do keep stirring in between and it will keep thicking at room temperature too after you remove it from the sun

  11. S.K.Mittal says

    we have more than 20 years old sweet sour lemon pickle with us.That has turned almost black in colour.But it’s taste is exceptionally marvelous which is enhancing with it’s maturity.

  14. Sandhya Khattri says

    This is really an authentic recipe, here in Lucknow I can easily find all the ingredients and going to try this, thanks for sharing.

  15. anjanaskc says

    @Anonymous-the lemon should not be kept in a airtight jar,cover with a loose lid or a plate ,and keep shaking or mixing it after 2 days .

    • Samir K Dutt says

      I suspect that using a clear glass container like the one shown above is helpful in keeping the pickle free of mold. Clear glass lets in UV light, which is a powerful antibacterial and antifungal agent. I’m using clear glass half gallon containers from Walmart and I’ve reached day 30 with no problems at all.

  16. Anonymous says

    hi maayeka. i have a problem. i followed your procedure up to when the lemons are mixed with salt and stored in air tight jar in the sun. i made sure that lemons were nicely washed and dried before this. but within 10 days of keeping it in the sun i opened the jar to see the softness of their skin and i saw they had caught mold/mould. what do you think could have gone wrong? i also detected that the jar did not have a good air tightening. do you think that could have been the reason? thank god that i had cut a small quantity of lemons. do let me know what you think…..
    appreciate it.

  17. anjanaskc says

    @Anonymous-yes you can add powdered suagr to fasten the process,never tried the syrup and boiling lemon process(instant pickle)

  18. Anonymous says

    Anjanaji, can we add powdered sugar instead of grain sugar to fasten the process. will it be ok. Also i have heard some people make a syrup first and then boil lemon pieces in it. is this method correct and faster

  21. Maayeka says

    @Singh 82-thanks for your appreciation.if you are not able to find lendi peepal then you can make it without using that as there is no substitute for that.
    In Bangalore you can try to find lendi peepal by the name-
    Kannada : Hippali, Hippalibali, Kuna
    Malayalam : Tippali, Pippali

  22. singh82 says

    Very good recipe reminds of same pickle my nani used to put. Can you tell me substitute for lendi pepal. I live in bangalore its toughto find north Indian stuff here. Also do you have recipes for toddlers..1-2 yrs age. I am a big fan of your recipes and have tried almost all of them

  27. DivyaGCP says

    This pickle is new to me. Every time when I am visiting your site, I am learning something new. This time it is this pickle..

  30. Priya Suresh says

    Am hearing this digestive masala lemon pickle for the first time..very interesting and completely new for me.

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3.65 from 20 votes (20 ratings without comment)