Instant Lemon Pickle

This recipe details the preparation of lemon pickle with key ingredients being lemons, chilli powder, asafoetida powder, fenugreek powder, salt, oil, and mustard. The lemons are boiled and cut into pieces, then seasoned with spices. Hot oil with mustard is then poured over, mixed and transferred to a bowl or jar. The pickle enhances any Indian meal and can be refrigerated for a week.

Instant Lemon Pickle

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Recipe by S Kamala
Course: PickleCuisine: Indian, TamilDifficulty: Easy
Servings

15

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

10

minutes

Learn how to make a delicious and tangy lemon pickle with this easy recipe. Packed with flavor and spices, it’s the perfect accompaniment to any meal.

Ingredients

  • Lemon – 4 to 5

  • Chilli Powder – 2 to 3 teaspoons

  • Asafoetida powder – 1 teaspoon

  • Fenugreek powder – 1 teaspoon

  • Salt – 2 to 3 teaspoons

  • Gingelly oil – 4 to 5 tablespoons

  • Mustard – 1 teaspoon

Directions

  • Bring 4 to 5 cups of water to a boil. Add whole lemons to the boiling water and continue to boil for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the lemons and allow them to cool.
  • Once cool, slice the lemons into your preferred size and arrange them on a plate. Sprinkle the lemon pieces with chili powder, asafoetida powder, fenugreek powder, and salt.
  • In a kadai, heat oil over medium heat. Once hot, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, carefully pour the hot oil over the seasoned lemon pieces. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and transfer to a bowl for storage or immediate serving.

Notes

  • To make fenugreek powder, dry roast and powder it.

30 Comments

  1. what to do if someone wants it sweet? thanks

  2. Hello Shaikh,

    Thank you for visiting my site.

    To make sweet pickle, you can follow the above method and reduce the chilli powder to half of the quantity mentioned. Before seasoning, take half cup jaggery powdered and add two to three tablespoons of water and make a syrup. Strain it and add to the lemon pieces and then season it as above.

  3. Divya Vikram

    Mouthwatering pickle!!

  4. Hi Kamala, I was looking for this instant pickle. Once I made like this but didn't cook the lemons. Oh it was so bitter and I throwed it.

    Is it ok to cook for just 10 minutes.

  5. Thank you Divya Vikram.

  6. Hi Jhanani,

    Thank you for visiting my site. Yes. It is enough to cook for ten minutes.

  7. Hi Kamala,

    I cooked this pickle in the same procedure as u said,but it turned out to be very bitter.What may be the reason?Do I need to take extra care in selecting lemons??

  8. Hi Madhavi,

    May be due to the variety of lemon you used. I do not know where you live. In USA I have not seen the yellow colour lemon in the market. Only green lemons. If you get good quality yellow colour lemon, you will get tasty pickles. The photo in the above recipe is taken after I prepared the pickle as per above procedure and it does not taste bitter.

    You can try the other method also. Without boiling the lemon, cut it into small pieces and add enough salt and keep it for three days, mixing it every day. The lemon get soaked in salt and become soft by the time. Then you can add the chilli powder, seasoning etc. You can also a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to get extra flavour.

  9. Hi Kamala,
    Thanks for ur suggestion.
    I live in finland.I tried this recipe with big yellow ones.This time as u said I will try with green one and see how it tastes.I will update u after that.

  10. Hi Madhavi,

    I think you misunderstood my suggestion. I never tried with green lemon. Only with yellow lemon. May be Finaland lemons are different from the Indian one. Anyway best of luck for you to get a good lemon pickle.

  11. Thanks Kamala. I will try and let you know.

  12. hi …   i tried ur receipe and it seems delecious but i was just wondering hw long we have to wait befre we can eat this pickle….as it sounds instant pickle …can we eat it straight aftr preperation or have to leave it fr couple od days…
    thanks

  13. Hi,

    You can eat this pickle immediately. This type of pickle is prepared at wedding etc and shouold be consumed immediately. It will not stay good for only few days.

  14. OMG !!! This pickle came out soooooooooo yummmm. I just tried it today after dinner. It came out sooo gud that i had to have a cup of curd rice and the pickle right then and there !!
    The taste was fantastic. Loveddd it. Thank u for the recipe. Its grt that i can do this in the winter too. Dont hav to wait for sunshine to make my fav pickle …
    I also added fresh juice from one lime (green) for extra flavour. Maybe that eliminated the bitterness everyone was talking abt.
    Thank u once again for the grt recipe.

  15. Thank you Kamini for trying this pickle and your feedback. It is a good idea to add lemon juice to remove the bitterness and get more lemon taste.

  16. I made it with big and thick yellow lemons we get in USA. It came out very good. No bitterness. I ate it with hot rice and ghee. It was yummy. Thanks!

  17. Hi mam,

    Will you pls.tell me how to make naaraththanga pickle?

    • Hi Jayanthi,

      For Naarthanga pickle also, follow the same procedure like lemon pickle. For dry naarthanga pickle, you have to slightly cut the whole naarthanga round without breaking it. Then stuff salt into the gaps and keep it in a ceramic jar for two to three days shaking it everyday. Then take it out and dry in the hot sun for few days or till it completely dry. This can be kept for a year.

  18. Hi, mam how many days this instant pickle will be kept?

  19. After boiling lemons 10 minutes becomes soft or we have to boil them more than 10 minutes more softness

  20. If we made instant lemon pickles may we eat them that day when they prepared? Thanks

  21. Thank u mam . But i over cooked the lemons. Is their any solution to make the pickels tasty and sweet

  22. Hi mam, instant bonda came to good. And everyone enjoyed bonda with tea. Thank you mam

  23. Yummy,

  24. Made this today and came out really good

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