I have lived in various houses and locations due to my father’s government job and we have been very fortunate to have great lemon trees. Lemon is such a staple in our diet and daily routines whether it is in our Nimbu Paani or easy Lemon Pickle and so on. if you a big fan of Lemon flavor, check out some of my Lemon flavored recipes all of which are my all-time favorite.

When we lived in Madhya Pradesh, we had a wonderful lemon tree with small size lemons but very thin peel which are also called Kaagazi Nimbu given their kaagaz-like (paper-like thin) peel. The lemon tree would bear lemons throughout the year and was a lifeline not only for us but for our neighbors too since the tree was almost right on the road. 😊

When we lived in Punjab, we had 2 big lemon trees which would bear huge-sized lemons most of which didn’t have seeds. They were wonderful to make pickles since they grew in abundance and we were able to harvest several kilos of lemons from both trees multiple times a year.

Lemon Tree Full with Fruits
Lemon Tree Full of Fruits

This is my mother’s easy Lemon Pickle recipe and is a Khata Meetha Nimbu ka Achar since it has both sugar and salt and the tangy flavor from the lemons.  All the prep time for this Pickle is in picking cleaning and cutting lemons, other than that, this is a pretty simple and straightforward recipe.

Since we had a bumper harvest and we love making pickles in bulk and sharing with everyone, this recipe is based on the last batch of some 10kg lemon. Please feel free to scale it up/down based on the quantity you have.

PREPARATION TIME: 1-2 hours
COOKING TIME: 5 minutes
SERVINGS: 2-3 jars
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Low

INGREDIENTS:

  1. Lemon – About 10kg
  2. Sugar – 2kg
  3. Salt – About ½ kg
  4. Black Salt – About ½ kg
  5. Black Pepper (Kali Mirch) – 100gms
  6. Cloves (Laung) – 100gms
  7. Cinnamon (Dal cheeni) – 50 gms
  8. Cumin Seeds (Jeera) – 300gms
  9. Carom Seeds (Ajwaein) – 300 gms
  10. Garam Masala – 3 tablespoons

UTENSILS/EQUIPMENT:

  1. Frying Pan
  2. Grinder
  3. Big Mixing Bowl

RECIPE:

  1. Pluck and thoroughly wash all the lemons. Spread them on a cotton cloth and dry them in a shade.
Wash and dry the lemon in shade
Wash and dry the lemon in the shade

2. Once they dry, cut the lemons into bite-size pieces.
3. Add the salt and sugar and let the lemon pieces sit in the salt-sugar mix for 2-3 days. Lemons will release a lot of moisture during this period.

Add salt and sugar and let the pieces rest for 2-3 days
Add salt and sugar and let the pieces rest for 2-3 days

4. Dry roast all the whole spices in a frying pan – black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, and carom seeds on low heat until they dry and become aromatic.
5. Let them rest for some time and then grind them into a fine powder.

Dry roast and then grind the whole spices
Dry roast and then grind the whole spices

6. After the lemon pieces have been sitting in the salt-sugar mixture for about 2-3 days, add the ground spices along with 3 tablespoons of garam masala.

Add the ground spices to the lemon pieces
Add the ground spices to the lemon pieces

7. Mix everything well and then let this mixture sit in the sun for 2-3 days. By then a lot of extra moisture will evaporate leaving all the spicy goodness in this Lemon Pickle.

Pack this easy peasy Khata Meetha Nimbu ka Achar in clean glass/porcelain jars and let them sit for about 2 weeks to soften the lemon pieces further and to get the spices incorporated well before relishing it. Consume with hot plain parathas or Phulkas. Also, don’t forget to check out my other Pickle recipes.