Oil Less Lemon Pickle

Lemon PIckle Without Jaggery

Lemom Pickle With Jaggery

My granny used to say older the lemon pickle without oil more is its medicinal value. Thus in her home and later in my mom’s home lemon pickle used to be stored in porcelain containers tightly packed and sealed. The container which used to open used to be at least a year old. Lemon pickle has its medicinal value only when red chilies are not added to it. I prefer my lemon pickle to be sweet, sour and hot. Oil is not used in this simple but tasty pickle. I love making pickles. For me working in kitchen is best stress buster and watching the reactions of my family members when they devour the food/pickle/cakes/puddings is the most joyous moment. This pickle requires very few ingredients and equally less time and labor.

Preparation Time: 30-40 min.

Maturing Time: 20-30 days

Servings: Makes 500 gm. pickle (Approx.)

Ingredients Required For Making Lemon Pickle:

• 30-35 Ripe Yellow Lemons (Medium Size) / 500 gm. Ripe Yellow Lemons
• 100 gm. Red Chili Powder / To taste
• 100 gm. Red Kashmiri Chili Powder
• 4-5 Teaspoons of Turmeric Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon pure Asafoetida powder
• Salt to taste

Direction For Making Lemon Pickle:

• Wash and wipe the surface of lemons dry.
• Keep the cleaned lemons under the sun / fan for 30 minutes to make sure they are dry.
• Squeeze the juice of 10 lemons and keep the juice for later use.
• Cut the lemon rind left after taking out the juice from lemons, into pieces (I cut them to strips).
• Cut off little bit of top and bottom end, of the remaining lemons.(The end where stalk is attached and the opposite end).
• Cut the lemons to 4 pieces if they are medium size or eight pieces if they are big.
• In a bowl take:
• Salt
• Turmeric powder
• Red chili powder
• Kashmiri Mirch powder
• Asafoetida
• Mix the ingredients nicely
• Take all lemon pieces and pieces of lemon rind in a big stainless steel container and add the spices mixture to it.
• Mix nicely.
• Add lemon juice and mix.

Lemon Pieces With Speces etc.

• Cover the container with lemon and spices mixture with a muslin cloth and place under the sun for 10-15 days. Make sure the container is kept inside in the night time.
• The lemons will start changing the color and will start becoming soft.

Ready to be Botteled

• Put this partially matured pickle in a glass / porcelain container and place the lid tightly.

Pickle Bottled and Ready for More Sun Heating and Maturing

• Keep daily under the sun for 15 days more. Now the pickle container can be left out in night time also if it is kept in safe place. The cooling in night and heating by sun in day time does wonder to the pickle.
• After one month you can consume the ready pickle, but I prefer to keep it in my shelf for 2-3 months before I allow the pickle to be consumed. Because longer it is allowed to mature softer the lemon pieces become and the spices mix with the lemon pieces very nicely.

Matured Lemon Pickle After Three Months

Enjoy the oil free lemon pickle with stuffed paranthas / dal-Chawal / biryani …..

Tips:

• Use only stainless / wooden utensils to make pickle.
• Check the purity of all spices for purity they are the main culprit for the pickle getting spoilt. (If not pure)
• Make sure all lemons are yellow and unblemished.
• Dry the lemons properly else the pickle will go bad,
• Check the hotness of chili powder before adding. Each brand has different hotness. I prefer making my own chili powder from whole deseeded chilies to ensure purity.
• Do not use marketed asafoetida powder as it has maida in it and can cause the pickle to spoil. If you do not get pure asafoetida powder then omit it.
• Kashmiri chili powder is for giving color it can be avoided. In that case the color of pickle will be dullish.
• Make sure all containers and equipment as well as your hands are dry while machining pickle.

Suggested Variations:

• After two to three months when the lemon pieces are soft and the pickle is juicy 250 gm. finely broken jaggery can be added to get sweet and sour taste. I keep two containers one with jaggery other without jaggery to cater for the taste of family members.

Matured Lemon Pickle With Jaggery

• 50 gm. Ajwain (Caraway seeds) can be added after cleaning them. (Rub with cloth).
• 20-30 ml. of Vinegar can be added to ensure that in rainy weather the pickle does not spoil. I use apple cider if I it starts raining during maturing time (First one month).
• Deseeded, roasted whole red chilies can be added to the lemon and spices mixture. The juicy tangy red chili tastes awesome.  

Fruit-Ice -Cream (Low Calory Ice-Cream)

Fruity Ice-Cream with Served with Mango and Strawberry

Ice-Cream brings a big broad smile on the faces of children as well as grownups. I can have as many helping of ice-cream as possible only restraining factor is my level of cholesterol. But rather getting bogged down by such small thing I thought of making fruity ice-cream which will have less quantity of cream and more fruit thus satiating my ice-cream craving as well as providing much required nutrients. The version I make for myself and my husband comes out slightly hard as cream is not added in it. If cream/avocado is added the soft, fruity Ice-cream is made. This Ice-cream is especially good as it has fruit and fruit pulp thus rich in nutrients. Parents of young children should try it as it is one of the best methods apart from Fruity-custard (http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2013/05/creamy-fruity-custard.html) to make children eat fruits. If Avocado is along with rest of the ingredients then the nutritional vaues as well as the texture and taste increases many folds. 
This Ice-cream being low on calories (25 cal/100gm), fats and sugar. High on dietary fibers, vitamins, micronutrients, is very good for those who cannot partake ice-creams due to high fat, caloris and low fiber contents.
Nutritional Value:All values are approximate values.
Calories: 190
Fat: 14.o gm.
Sugar: 25gm.
Carbs: 17.0 gm
Protien: 7.0 gm.
Apart from the above, due to the presence of different fruits this ice-cream is rich in Vit. C, K, B-6, E.
Addition of avocado brings additional nutrients: 0.5gm poly saturated fats, 3 gm. mono saturated fats, sodium, potassium, zinc, copper, magnisium, 2.4 gm. fiber, Vitamins A, E, C. riboflavin,niacin, folates, thiamin etc.

Preparation Time: 15-20 min.

Freezing Time: 3-4 hrs

Serving:  750gm. approx.

Ingredients required For Making Fruity Ice-Cream:

• 750 gm. Ripe Sweet Mangoes (4-5 Medium size mangoes)

• 200 gm. Ripe Bananas (2 large bananas)

• 10-12 Red sweet Strawberries

• 2 Teaspoon Corn flour

• 150 ml. Milk (1 tea cup milk)

• 50 gm. Sugar/Bura
• 1 Medium size Avacado (30 gm. approx.)(optional)

Directions For making Mango Ice-cream:

• Wash and peel mangoes.

• Cut mango to small pieces and discard the seed.

• Peel and cut bananas to small pieces.

• Take corn flour in a thick bottom pan and dissolve it in 150 ml. milk.

• Cook the corn flour milk mixture on high flame with continuous and vigorous stirring for 2 min.

• The corn flour –milk mixture will become transparent. Remove from heat cover and allow it to cool.

Corn flour Cooked with Milk

• In a grinder-mixer take mango pieces, banana pieces, sugar and cooked mixture of corn flour- milk mixture/Avacado pulp and grind all ingredients to smooth pulp.

Paste of fruits and cooked corn flour for Ice-Cream

• Sieve the pulp through a sieve to get rid fibers if mangoes.

• Add cream to the sieved pulp.

Cream and Fruits Paste ready for freezing

• Wash the strawberries and remove the green calyx and stalk.

• Cut the cleaned strawberries to small pieces.

• In a glass container / Ice-cream mold pour half of the creamy-fruity pulp.

• Sprinkle half of the pieces of strawberry pieces and then pour the remaining creamy-fruity pulp.

• Sprinkle the remain9ing strawberry pieces on the top of the creamy-fruity pulp.

Creamy Fruit pulp and strawberry mixture ready for freezing to Ice-Cream

• Cover with the lid and keep in freezer at a temperature of -5^o C to -8^o C,for 1 hours for ice-cream to set.

• Gently shake the container with creamy-fruity pulp for ice-cream one or twice. Then allow it to solidify without disturbing.

Fruity Ice-Cream

• Soft Mango-Banana Ice-cream is ready to be enjoyed without guilt of adding calories to your diet as this ice-cream has more nutrients and fewer calories, unlike other ice-creams which have calories due to sugar and cream. 

Fruity Ice-Cream With Strawberry and Cream topping

Tips:

• Any variety of pulpy mangoes can be used.

• Sieving is must to make sure the pulp is devoid of fibers. Remember fibers and rough texture are unwelcome guests in ice-cream.

• Corn flour and milk mixture should be stirred vigorously and continuously while cooking to avoid lump formation.

• Cooked paste of corn flour milk should be thick.

• The corn flour paste should be mixed with fruit pieces and sugar before making pulp of fruits to make sure even mixing of corn flour paste with fruits. Corn flour paste will act as binder and softener for ice-cream.

• If bura {Sugar powder made by heat drying the sugar ( http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/11/bura-dry-grainy-powdered-sugar.html )} is added then the ice-cream comes out more soft as the water of crystallization of sugar is removed while making bura thus it does not leave water when mixed with fruits.

Suggested variations:

• In India during fasting corn flour is not eaten so corn flour paste can be replaced by 100 ml. fresh cream / one cup malai nicely creamed.
  

• Pieces of litchi or any other pulpy, non-stony, non-fibrous fruits can be layered while setting the fruit pulp for ice-cream.

• Corn flour milk mixture can be replaced by avocado cream. Peel and mash one ripe avocado and add that cream to the pulp instead of cornflour milk mixture.

• Those who do not like the taste and flavor of banana or want to avoid cream (first point in suggested variation) can add avocado which will be a replacement of milk cream as well as banana.

• While serving top the ice-cream with freshly cut fruit.

Oil Less Green Chili Pickle/हरी मिर्च अदरक का अचार बिना तेल

Oilless Green Chili Pickle

This is one pickle which vanishes fast from the bottle as my whole family is very fond of it. I do not mind as it is very easy to, make and is very healthy. Green chilies have lots of vitamin C, Garlic, caraway seeds(Ajwain) are good for digestion and flatulence and again lemon is rich in Vitamin C and micro nutrients. The sour, hot and tangy taste makes it irresistible.

Preparation Time: 45 min

Maturing time: 7 days in summers

Serving: Makes 400gm. (approx.) pickle.

Ingredients Required For making Oil less Green Chili Pickle:

• 250 gm. Fresh Green Chilies
• 10 Lemons
• 10 Pods of Garlic (optional)
• 100 gm. Ginger
• 2-3 Teaspoons Mustard seeds (I use yellow mustard but any other will do)
• 2-3 Teaspoons Ajwain
• 2 Teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 2-3 Teaspoons Vinegar/apple cider
• Salt to taste

Directions for making Oil less Green Chili Pickle:

• Grind mustard seeds to coarse powder.
• Wash green chilies and remove the stalks. Dry them with a cloth and cut to small pieces.
• Wash and peel ginger. Dry under the sun to ensure all top moisture has evaporated.
• Cut the peeled ginger to small size pieces.
• Wash and dry the lemons. Squeeze the juice of lemons leaving two lemons for later use, and cut the lemon rind to long strips.
• Cut the remaining lemons to small pieces.
• Peel garlic and cut to long strips.
• In a stainless container take
• Green chili pieces
• Ginger pieces
• Garlic pieces
• Lemon and lemon rind pieces
• Ajwain
• Mustard seeds powder
• Salt
• Turmeric and mix nicely.
• Vinegar 
• Cover the container with the pickle mixture with a muslin cloth and keep under the sun for one day in summers and 2-3 days in winter.
• Transfer the mixture to a clean dry bottle and cover with the lid tightly.

Pickle mauring under the Sun

• Keep the bottle with the pickle mixture under the sun for 4-5 days and by the end of the week the pickle is ready.

Oilless Green Chili Pickle

Tips:

• All ingredients should be dry before pickling.
• Check for any rotten or stained part in garlic, chilies and ginger. It should be removed else the pickle will go bad.

Suggested Variations:

• If you wish to make this pickle in rainy weather then 20 ml. of vinegar should be added to the mixture along with other ingredients. (I use apple cider).
• 20-30 gm, Jaggery can be added to get the sweet, sour tangy and hot flavors.