If you are a fan of probiotic foods, you will love this spicy Indian lime pickle or nimbu achaar. It is filled with good-for-your-gut bacteria and tastes amazing served with a simple Indian meal of dal and rice. Plus, it couldn't be easier to make, especially when you have the hot summer sun playing sous chef.
Indian pickles are a treat: spicy, salty and indescribably delicious. They are served at most Indian meals, but taste especially amazing with dal and rice. If you've been to an Indian restaurant, you've probably had some served to you alongside poppadum and chutney.
But those restaurant pickles, and in fact all storebought Indian pickles (which are easy to find at Indian grocery stores), fall terribly short when compared to a homemade pickle. Not only does a homemade version taste much better, it also has something that those off-the-shelf versions, which are heavily pasteurized, don't: probiotic bacteria.
I never saw myself making homemade pickles until a few years ago when I began digging deeper into the benefits of probiotic foods, like sourdough breads and sauerkraut. I had grown up eating Indian pickles, and everyone at home, including Jay, loves them, but even so we only ever bought them at the store. As I looked deeper into the process of making pickles, it seemed a shame not to try making a version at home that would have the added probiotic benefit.
Unfortunately, in India, too, making homemade pickles is a dying art and I couldn't really find any good recipes online. So over the years I've created my own recipe for lime pickle or nimbu ka achaar, which is my favorite Indian pickle, tweaking this and that and arriving at a flavorful condiment we love. (Also check out this carrot pickle or gajar ka achar).
Why you'll love this Indian lime pickle
- It's delicious. If American pickles steeped in vinegar is what you are used to (and those are delicious, I'll admit), you are in for a differently delicious treat with an Indian pickle. Indian pickles tend to be saucy (I like mine especially so), and you eat just a tiny amount at a time, using it mainly to flavor the food. So if you were eating dal and rice with a pickle, you'd mix a tiny bit of the pickle in with the dal and rice. Some Indian pickles can be incredibly spicy but my version is far from that; in fact it has just the right combination of tart and spice to make you fall in love.
- It's gut-friendly. Indian pickles are fermented in the hot sun and contain tons of gut-friendly bacteria. In fact, that's why our grandmothers and great-grandmothers took such care to make them each summer, so we could reap those health benefits year-round. Storebought versions lose that benefit because they have to pass health checks and are heavily pasteurized, which kills off the live cultures.
- It's easy to make. It might sound like a painstaking thing to do, making pickles at home, but the process really can't be easier. Putting the recipe together takes minutes, in fact. You do have to remember to leave your pickles out on a hot, sunny porch or stoop for a week, but that's not really work and it's a job you could easily enlist your kids to help with.
Ingredients
- Limes. You can use lemons, but you want a really thin skinned lemon or lime, as you will be pickling the rind. A tough rind will soften but will still remain quite tough, albeit edible. Also it is best to use organic limes for pickling.
- Nigella or onion seeds or kalonji: These are charcoal-black seeds that, you guessed it, sprout onions when planted. They help create, with the next two seed ingredients, the flavor unique to Indian pickles.
- Fenugreek seeds: Not everyone uses fenugreek seeds in lime pickles, but I love them here for the slight hint of bittersweet flavor and for their immeasurable health properties. Fenugreek seeds are prebiotic, which makes them a great addition to fermented Indian foods, like dosas and, of course, these pickles.
- Fennel seeds: With their great digestive properties and fresh, delicious flavor, fennel seeds, like the other seeds here, are key to creating the unique flavor of an Indian pickle.
- Cayenne or paprika or Kashmiri chili powder: I am giving you a few options here so you can adjust the heat level in the pickles to your liking. Cayenne is best for the hottest pickle: use as much or as little as you like. Paprika and Kashmiri chili powder will add great color but are both milder. Do use one of these: you want some heat in the pickle.
- Salt: Salt is the preservative here, and a key flavoring ingredient. One of the reasons I like making my own pickles is that I can control how much salt I add. In this recipe I add between ¼ to ½ a cup. I think the smaller quantity works perfectly, but if you like really salty pickles you can use more.
- Turmeric: For color and health
- Mustard seeds: Mustard seeds are, like fennel, fenugreek and nigella, key flavoring ingredients for an Indian pickle.
- Vegetable oil: Many Indian pickles are made with mustard oil. I sometimes use mustard oil when I can source it from the Indian store; it is not easily available at grocery stores in the United States. While mustard oil adds great flavor, any vegetable oil that can withstand high heat, like safflower, sunflower or peanut oil, will give you very good results. Also, when you sputter the mustard seeds in the oil, they will leach their delicious flavor into the oil.
How to make an Indian lime pickle
- Begin by sterilizing a quart-sized mason jar in boiling water. Let the jar dry thoroughly before using.
- Place the nigella, fenugreek and fennel seeds in a small skillet and roast them for 3-5 minutes over medium heat until they are very fragrant and just a shade or two darker. Powder them in a spice grinder and set aside.
- Wash the limes and dry them thoroughly with a clean kitchen towel. You want to make sure there is no water clinging to them. Then cut the limes into bite-sized pieces. If using smallish limes, quarter them. If they are larger, cut them into ½-inch pieces. Place them in a bowl.
- Add the powdered fennel-fenugreek-nigella mix to the bowl with the limes. Add cayenne or paprika or Kashmiri chili powder, turmeric and salt to the bowl. Toss with the limes.
- Heat the oil over high heat. Once hot, add the mustard seeds and let them begin to sputter.
- Turn off the heat and quickly but carefully pour the hot oil and mustard seeds into the bowl with the limes. Use a spoon to mix everything thoroughly.
- Carefully transfer the pickles to the mason jar. Seal with the lid. Place in full sun every day for 5-7 days for at least 6-8 hours. Bring it in at night and turn the jar around, without opening it, to ensure the ingredients move around and mix.
- After your pickles are ready, refrigerate them. They should last you in the refrigerator for a year.
Key food safety tip
With any fermented food, there is a chance of mold developing. It should not happen if you ensure there is no water remaining on the limes and the mason jar you use to store the pickles is thoroughly sterilized. Also make sure you don't cut down on the amount of oil--it might seem a lot, but remember, that jar of pickles has at least 40-50 servings.
If you do see mold develop on the pickles at any point, discard it immediately.
What to serve the lime pickle with
Dal and rice are a perfect meal to serve this pickle with. I'd serve this with a simple and easy tomato dal and basmati rice or jeera rice.
Or serve it with this Masala Khichdi.
Indian Lime Pickle
Equipment
- Glass bowl
- A sterilized, quart-sized mason jar
Ingredients
- 8 medium-large limes (make sure they are as thin skinned as possible. Wash and dry the limes thoroughly. Quarter or cut them into ½-inch pieces.)
- 2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 2 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds (saunf)
- 2 (heaping) tbsp cayenne (or paprika or Kashmiri chili powder)
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon asafetida (hing)
- ¼ to ½ cup salt (I use Himalayan pink salt but any finely ground salt is fine. You can use more for saltier pickles. Don't use less because you need the salt as a preservative for the pickles)
- 1 cup vegetable oil (mustard oil is preferred, but any vegetable oil that can withstand high temperatures without burning, like peanut oil, safflower oil, canola oil and sunflower oil, will work.)
- 2 tablespoon mustard seeds
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the fenugreek, fennel and nigella seeds to the skillet and toast until very fragrant, 3-5 minutes. Remove to a bowl, let them cool, then add asafetida and powder everything together in a spice grinder or blender.
- Place the limes in a clean, dry glass or ceramic bowl. Add the ground spices in step 1 along with the paprika or cayenne, turmeric, asafetida and salt. Mix well with a clean, dry spoon.
- Heat the oil in the same skillet you used to toast the spices. Once it's hot, add the mustard seeds. Wait until they begin to sputter, then turn off the heat.
- Carefully, standing back a little, pour the hot oil into the bowl with the limes and spices. Mix thoroughly, then transfer to the sterilized mason jar.
- Place the mason jar in the hot, full sun on your deck, porch or stoop for 5-7 days, for at least 6-8 hours each day. Turn the mason jar upside down and around each day to ensure the sauce and spices move around the jar.
- Once the pickle is ready, refrigerate immediately.
Nicolaas
An very nice, nay excellent, recipe.
I only use a tablespoon of mustard seed oil, I find the taste too dominant if used more extensively, I'll use a neutral olive oil for the rest.
Note, you can use this lime achar not just as a side dish, but also add it to dishes like eg. mince & mushrooms. Lime achar is very versatile in this respect. My young children are not keen on lime achar as such, but if used in these kind of dishes they gobble it up.
DiverDave
Well, we have our 1st batch of pickles done. What they call limes here in the Philippines are really just green lemons. But they do have calamansi which are like key limes, only smaller and sweeter. So I used those. Very, very thin rind and the seeds are so soft I left them in. We had run out of fennel seeds and the stores do not keep up with stocking shelves so I used some star anise. Also no asafoetida so I used minced garlic. We may have used a bit too much salt as a seed I tried was salty. I'm hoping the saltiness will drop as the sourness increases. I know sauerkraut we make doesn't really get very sour but stays more salty. I blame the poor quality of cabbage. It is hot here but our apartment gets very little sun so the pickles may just end up fermenting in a warm room. I had tried a jar of Patak's lime pickles several years ago and loved them so I'm hoping these pickles turn out as good. I'll try to update in a week or two.
DiverDave
Okay, so today is day 6 of fermentation. Here are some observations:
1) the calamansi is not at all soft; definitely some firmness that is unlike the lime pickles I had before.
2) they are not at all sour. Maybe some of the sourness of real lime pickles comes from the limes themselves so these sweeter limes are not adding any sourness?
3) my fear that they would be too salty was unnecessary. The saltiness has faded and the pungent spices have intensified.
I'll let these ferment a while longer. I think in the future I will either switch to lemons or maybe add some lime juice. I also have powdered citric acid; I'll have to search to see if that may be something to try.
Nicolaas
Aaaah, kalamansi, I miss that fruit. I doubt wether one can obtain it outside the Philippines
Steve Ranner
MAny thaks
DiverDave
Keep in mind, sauerkraut is bottled, usually, at room temperature. When the lid is put on, the pressure inside the bottle is about the same as outside. So when CO2 is released you get an increasingly positive pressure inside. With the lime pickles, they and the oil are still hot when the lid is put on. As the bottle cools a negative pressure occurs inside (unless the lid leaks). So as CO2 is released all it does is gradually offset the negative pressure until at some point it either equalizes or sugar is depleted and CO2 production stops.
Catherine Dun
Absolutely love this recipe - have made it twice this autumn/winter, that's when our limes in New Zealand seem to be in abundance so there's not always the hot sun to bathe them in, but do my best. Those rays surely burn through the cloud cover!
I have passed this recipe onto two friends, its fabulous, thanks Vaishali.
Vaishali
Hi Catherine, so happy to hear you’ve enjoyed the pickle!
Krysia
Hi - reading through your instructions...regarding point 5, what do you mean by 'or stoop for 5-7 days'? What do you mean please?
Vaishali
Hi Krysia, a front stoop is just the platform and stairs leading to the front door. Basically that sentence is just telling you to place the jar of pickles in any outdoor area of your house, like a deck, porch, or front stoop. 🙂 Hope that helps.
A R (Sandy) McColl
Really keen to try - just a question on the cayenne. Can you have a 1:1:1 mix of cayenne,paprika and Kashmiri pepper. I am looking for a solid burn that doesn't turn into a test of wills - me versus the pickle. I enjoy this type of challenge but apparently I am the only one.
Keen to try other recipes.
Cheers
Sandy
Vaishali
Hi, you can definitely modify the amount of chili pepper--a 1:1:1 mix of cayenne, paprika and Kashmiri pepper sounds good. Some Kashmiri chili pepper powders I've noticed are quite spicy, so do check that first. 🙂
rebecca
i LOVE lime pickle! my friend gave me a bunch of limes from her garden and i cannot wait to try this recipe... it seems to be the most authentic.
Vaishali
Awesome, hope you try!
Albert L J Hall
The SALT is not exactly a preservative. It provides a medium for LACTO-BACTERIA to flouish. These bacteria convert SUGARS into LACTIC ACID which IS the preservative if LACTO FERMENTED and which provides the SOUR taste of such product incluing SAUERKRAUT and KIMCHI. Speakinh g of KIMCHI I actually use KOREAN CHILLIE PAST {GOCHUJANG] for this kind of thing and in CURRIES. It does give a different 'strata to curries lime and lemon pickle. Other than that it's a pretty damn good and authentic recipe
Drew Peacock
"Once the pickle is ready, refrigerate immediately."
how do you know it's ready? no sunny days here for next 6 months so are there any physical indications?
Vaishali
You can eat them right after making them if you want to. But seven days or so is roughly the time it will take for the limes to soften. In cooler temps you will need to give a few days more.
Patrick
Her are some physical changes to watch for: The lime skins will change color from green to yellow and soften in a few days. These changes also results in the limes loosing their firm appearance and getting mushed up.
C
Very cool— excited to try it. So with this fermentation there's no risk of dangerous pressure buildup in the jar? Recipes I've seen don't seem to mention releasing gas regularly. Thanks.
Vaishali
I'm not an expert on the topic of pressure buildup but I don't pack the jar all the way to the top. I've personally never had any problems. If you have concerns it would be a good idea to check with someone who knows more about this.
Albert L J Hall
RE my perevious comment. LACTO-FERMENTATION inevitably produces some CO2 as sugars are converted to LACTIC ACID. But if you do not tighten down the lids excessively the CO2 will escape . If you use clip lid jars the lid will lift before any damage and with crew tops once again leave 'thumb and finger' tight. Once available sugar has been converted to lactic acid fermentation will stop. ON a personal not. I learnt my lesson when a LACTO FERMENT - in this case RED CABBAGE SAUERKRAUT went 'off' like a mini-grenade.
Lynn
We don't have consistent sunshine here. And our temps are generally cool. Could I process this differently? How? Thanks, I'd love to make this.
Lynn
Vaishali
Hi Lynn, while a hot sun is great for this, just a sunny spot in cooler temps will work too. You might need to leave it out for a couple days longer. I don’t consistently get sun everyday either, some days are cloudy and rainy. On days like those place it on a window sill inside the house and send it back out the next day when the sun returns. ?
Ambica
Lynn,
I just place it over the heater vents in winter - not as good as the sunshine but it works:)
Vaishali
Great tip, thanks for sharing!
Murray
Looks like a great recipe!