Amazing Indian Lime Pickle

Recipe located here: Amazing Lime Pickle

2 pounds of limes, cut into eight pieces

1/3 cup salt (pickling salt is best--no iodine)

40 cloves of garlic, smashed

50g red chili powder

For the tempering:

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup white cumin seeds

3 tablespoons black mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon asafoetida 

Place limes in bowl and add salt, garlic, and red chili powder. Mi well, coating limes and pressing down on them as you do. Retain the juices from the limes and refrigerate. Place juiced lime mixture in a steamer and steam for about 15 minutes until they are quite soft.

Transfer the steamed limes into a glass bowl and cover with a towel. Leave in the sun or a warm place for two days. Mix every eight hours to keep limes coated with ingredients.

At the end of day two, heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, throw in the black mustard seeds, cumin seeds and the asafoetida. The mustard seeds will begin to pop. When they do, pour the oil mixture over the limes and stir well. Pour in the reserved lime juices, too.

Cover again with a towel and allow mixture to sit in the sun or a warm place for another two days. 

At the end of two days, scoop the lime pickle into a food processor and process to a chunky or smooth paste. Place this in a sterilized air-tight container and let sit in a *cool place for at least two weeks before serving.

Notes: Squeeze as much of the juice out of the limes as possible before steaming. Keep the squeezed juices in the refrigerator.

I stored the finished pickle in an old-fashioned jar with a rubber ring and kept it in the refrigerator. While "curing", I kept it in the pantry (*cool place), not the refrigerator.