[stir it up]

A friend from India recently gifted me a jar of her homemade lemon pickle. I have never had this before, can you tell me how it's usually eaten or what it's eaten with?

Also, the jar wasn't sealed or heat sealed (no vacuum) like typical pickles I'm used to. (It had plastic cling film under the lid). Is this the norm, I didn't notice until now and kept it at room temperature for a couple weeks, so I'm wondering if it's foodsafe. It seems to be in oil.

Thanks.

[Harpua]

From my experience, they are eaten as a condiment with, well, any Indian dish? Or anything that it would compliment. I like them.

I don't know how to check if they are bad or not; can't help ya with that part.

[AndyG]

Indian lemon pickle holds up really well to storage without a typical canning seal, vacuum etc. I would trust it since it's homemade, and it was a personal friend who made it. Product from India often has substandard packaging imo, but from someone's home I'd have no worries.

Indians typically use it as a condiment with rice dishes. It's usually eaten in small quantities (perhaps a tablespoon or two of it next to a serving).

I grew up in India and personally I don't like most of the hot pickled stuff very much, but if it's home made it might be really good. I really go for their sweet chutneys, yummm. Major Grey's chutney is a variation on Indian sweet mango chutney.

[Grumio]

I recently made my first batch of lime pickle - here's the link to this awesome & easy recipe (there's a lemon pickle recipe too):

Indian Food Rocks: Make Lime Pickle (sans oil) while the Sun Shines

I adore lemon pickle; I made the lime pickle instead because the available limes were cheaper & better looking than the lemons. Anyway, after it was done (5 weeks, not the 2 months suggested in the recipe), I went on one of my periodic "Why would anyone ever eat anything but Indian food" binges, & of course the lime pickle went spectacularly well with it.

Then, as always happens, after a couple of weeks of non-stop Indian food, I got a hankering for something else. I made a New England boiled dinner with a tri-tip I had corned - & discovered that Indian lime pickle goes GREAT with corned beef.

Another thing I intend to try is Moroccan chicken with lime pickle standing in for Moroccan preserved lemons. And when they come in, I'm going to try a blood orange/Meyer lemon pickle seasoned with szechuan pepper & ginger.

Also, fwiw, I understand that lemon pickle is usually not refrigerated. The recipe I used has no oil, & the author recommends refrigerating it once it's done.

[stir it up]

Thank Andy, Grumio and Harpua for the good info!

Grumio I will definitely try to make some of your no-oil citrus pickles as well. Blood orange and meyer lemon, too exciting... you missed kumquat!

[Grumio]

You're welcome, stir.

Re the pickle recipe, I kept mine in the oven (gas with a pilot light) when it wasn't in the sunny window, which seemed to work just fine. The temperature is more important than sunshine per se.