Today’s Guest Blogger is Ross, from Christchurch, NZ.
Lemon pickle
This one is a bit friskier, with the smoking hot oil making the kitchen smell strongly of mustard for a while – you have been warned!
This made about 1kg of pickle for me (including some excess oil).
- 8 lemons,
- 150g salt,
- 25g fenugreek; 25g mustard powder; 50g chilli powder; 8g turmeric. (I used mild chilli powder from my local Indian supermarket, and the end product still had a bit of a kick; if you prefer it incendiary, then use the hot stuff.)
- 300ml mustard oil; 1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing); 12g mustard seeds (crushed).
Start by sterilising a large glass jar – a kilner-type jar like the one pictured is ideal.
Wash the lemons, dry, cut into eighths; you don’t have to remove the pips, but I did.
Put the lemons in the jar. Add the salt and shake it all up well to spread it all over them.
Cover; leave in a warm place for 1-2 weeks. (I put it on the windowsill which catches the sun nicely.) The juice leeches out of the lemons; where they’re exposed to the air, the lemon pieces soften and go a dull brown colour.
Mix the fenugreek, mustard powder, chilli powder and turmeric. Add this to the jar and shake it around gently. Re-cover and put it back into the warm for 2-3 days.
Transfer the lemon pieces and spices to a large saucepan.
Heat the mustard oil in a large frying pan. Fry the mustard seeds and asafoetida.
Keep heating the oil until it starts to smoke, then pour it over the lemons. (This is where it gets a bit frisky.)
Mix well. Allow to cool, transfer to a bowl, cover once more and leave in the warm for another week or so.
Now it is ready to put into jars; I tried (without huge success) to decant the excess oil. Then you can give some to your friends as presents, or to your enemies as a chemical weapon…
Ross is an expat thirtysomething Brit who went to the Shakey Isles in search of adventure. Works in technology, enjoys creating, has a love-hate relationship with his kitchen.
Warm thanks go out to Ross for these four great blog posts – hopefully he’ll be back with some more antipodean country skills for the blog in the future! Have a look at Ross’s other lemon glut-busting recipes for lemonade and lemon liqueur, and lemon sorbet (which you’ll be needing, after sampling this pickle, I think!).
I hope you’ve all enjoyed this contribution from a great guest blogger as much as I have!
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Just a note if you’re giving or serving this to friends, mustard powder is often made with wheat, resulting in a pickle that is non-obviously unsuitable for coeliacs.
My jar of Coleman’s mustard powder describes it’s single ingredient as ‘mustard flour’, which I’d assumed was just ground mustard seeds. Am I assuming wrong?
I think that’s the case. Pretty sure I’ve seen mustard powder that’s adulterated with either wheat or rice flour. (it’ll be marked on the ingredients in any case)
I mean, I think it’s the case that “mustard flour” is just ground mustard seeds.
Ah, that’s reassuring, thank you!
Nice recipe … I’d be inclined to leave the oil in. It helps keep air from the ingredients and acts as a preservative. It also can be used in cooking….
Ah, good point. Thanks!
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