ISO South Indian Lemon Pickle

[Scruffy The Cat]

Lime pickle is easy to find. But lemon pickle? My DH brought home some lemon pickle from Bangalore but it is all gone. :-( Since the one he brought me was homemade, I think the bar is set pretty high, but right now I'll be contented with some rather than none.

[Rasam]

In India, the distinction between lime and lemon is not as strong as in the West. In India, there is one thin skinned, yellow, sour, fruit, which is yellow like a lemon, but thin skinned and sour like a lime.
Not sure what the translation into English would be (Nimbu in Hindi, many other names in other Indian languages). Indians say lime or lemon interchangeably for this fruit.

This is the one that turns up in most pickles, so dont sweat the lime/lemon distinction.

However, there are other citrusy fruits, that are pickled too, so not sure what went into the homemade pickle you liked so much.

And there are at least half a dozen different South Indian lemon pickle recipes, with oil, without oil, different spices, etc. So get more details before you buy.

[PinchOfSalt]

Wow. Neat. Nifty. Thanks for the very interesting info about citrus in India!

[Scruffy The Cat]

Bad me, I missed some of these follow-ups. But I did end up buying Lime pickle in January on the theory that some pickle in my kitchen was better than no pickle at all. ;-) And indeed the Lime pickle was VERY much like what my husband had brought back with him from India. (With oil, by the way). Salty, tart, hot, and delicious.

I will also revisit Waltham Indian Grocery sometime soon. Happiness in my tummy.

[djd]

I make no promises, but the newly expanded Indian market in Somerville that shares the Market Basket parking lot (yeh, forgot the name) (but it was one of the existing Union Sq. markets) has a big pickle/chutney aisle. I got quite lost in it.

[PinchOfSalt]

The thought of ANYTHING sharing the Somerville Market Basket's parking lot boggles the mind. I gotta ask, at the risk of pulling this thread off topic - has it gotten any better since the new Burlington MB opened?

[djd]

Every so often there's a random weekend hour where I think huh, did everyone suddenly leave town? But no. No difference. Still astoundingly affordable mayhem.

[PinchOfSalt]

If you can't find it at Patel's, check out the new, much expanded Waltham India grocery about a little more than a block up Moody street from the old location (going towards Main Street). I made my first visit there the other day and did not have the time to do a thorough inventory, but came away thinking it was very similar in scope to Patel's. From the signage I am wondering if they are moving the location of Kebab n Curry to be downstairs from the grocery. Anyone know?

[Scruffy The Cat]

I checked Patel's last week. 10 varieties (or so) of lime pickle, no lemon. I did buy some lime pickle as emergency rations though. It was FINE. I'm just hoping for lemon pickle too. Waltham Indian Grocery next. I've been there before just not pickle shopping that time.

[LStaff]

>From the signage I am wondering if they are moving the location of Kebab n Curry to be downstairs from the grocery. Anyone know?

Yes.... if by Kebab n Curry you mean Kebab and Tandoor. They are shooting for Feb 1st to move from the current location, but we all know how build out projects go.

[PinchOfSalt]

Yes indeed, that i what I meant. My bad, and thanks for the info. All the more reason for visits to Moody Street.

[Jenny Ondioline]

Reviving this thread to mention that I found three different brands of lemon pickle at this grocery yesterday. The brand I bought was Shan, but I forget the others.

Incidentally, this place destroys Patel Brothers, both in variety and price. By some distance the best Indian grocery in the area.

[Jenny Ondioline]

I swear I think I've seen some brand of lemon pickle at Patel Brothers on Moody in Waltham: not Patak's, for sure, but some other Indian brand.