Salted lemons seem to some to be something exotic, although lovers of Indian and North African cuisine are well aware that it is one of the most common spices there. The rinds are most appreciated in salted lemons, but the pulp and pickle are also used to make various sauces and as an addition to some dishes.
How to choose and prepare lemons for pickling
For pickling, organic lemons are best suited, whose rind has not been treated with special chemicals and is not covered with a thin waxy film. If you cannot buy such lemons, you will need to rinse the skin of the purchased fruit especially thoroughly.
Since the rind is the most valuable part of the lemon, choose the thicker fruit. As a rule, these are large fruits. The pulp and juice in salted lemons are also needed, so take those fruits that seem much heavier in weight than they look. To make more juice stand out from the fruit, and its pulp fermented faster, before you start cutting and salting lemons, roll each fruit several times on the work surface or put them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
Recipe for pickling lemons
To pickle 5 lemons (just over ½ kilogram), you will need ¼ teaspoon of salt for each fruit and 2 extra lemons to squeeze the juice out of them. It is also worth preparing in advance a sterilized liter glass jar and a sealed lid for it.
Cut off the end of the lemons to which the stem was attached, cut the five fruits lengthwise into four parts, but not completely, leaving some of the peel uncut so that it allows the quarters to stick together. Use your fingers to squeeze out as much juice as possible from the cut fruit over a bowl or bowl. Lemon juice is good for nails, but for the next step, it is better to wear disposable gloves, since it, in combination with salt, can turn the slightest scratch and even just insufficiently moisturized skin into torture.
Take salt and rub it thoroughly into the lemon pulp. Place each grated lemon in a sterilized jar. When there are a lot of lemons, do not be afraid to put pressure on them, packing them in containers. From the remaining two lemons, squeeze the juice into the same bowl in which you juiced before. Pour the resulting liquid lemons into a jar. There should be enough juice so that it completely covers the fruits. If this is not enough, you will have to take one or more lemons.
Close the jar with a lid and place in a dark, cool place. Salt the lemons for a month, shaking the jars occasionally. Store ready-made salted lemons in the refrigerator, they can stand there without sacrificing taste for up to a year, although six months are called the optimal shelf life.
Before use, the pulp is removed from the peel and washed under running water. Put chopped and chopped crusts in salads, soups, stews, use for tagines and flavoring couscous.
