Kidarangai -Citron Pickle

Kidarangai -Citron Pickle

Kidarangai and Narthangai (Citron)are two tasty citrus fruits and the south Indian people would love to have these pickles as part of their meal. Kidarangai is like narthangai But smaller in size. The fruit is lemon-like with a shape that varies from oblong to oval, and the various shapes can occur in the same branch. The peel is yellow when fully ripe with a texture that can be smooth or bumpy, very thick and fleshy. The pulp color varies from pale-yellow to greenish and is divided into as many as 20 segments, not very juicy, containing many seeds. Medium to large sized bumpy yellow skinned citrus having a very acidic flavor. Primarily the skin is used, and the fruit plays a role in the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles.

Growing Environment: Trees do well in subtropical and tropical environments. Water regularly, though less during colder months. Trees do not like standing water.For more details..http://www.botany.com/citrus.html

The origin of the citron is unknown, but it was the first cultivated citrus fruit, with records dating back to 4000 B.C. It was a common fruit in the Mediterranean region, Through all this there is almost no mention of India, which is a bit strange. Because India has fair claim to being where citrus fruits came from, as seen in how the Sanskrit name of narang (possibly from an earlier Dravidian term) lead to the Spanish naranja, Italian arancio and French and English orange. Current taxonomic thinking suggests that most citrus fruits descend from just a few species: limes (citrus aurantifolia), mandarins (citrus reticulata), citrons (citrus medica) and pummelos (citrus grandis).

So, let me share, my version of the recipe:

Ingredients:

Kidarangai – 5

Salt- 3 tsps or as per taste

Methi seeds - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder-50gms

Gingelly oil-1 to 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds-1 tsp

Asafoetida= 1 tsp

Method:

1. Wash kidarangai and dry cover a cloth to remove excess moisture. Cut into small pieces.

2.Add salt to the cut pieces in a ceramic jar.Toss well

3. Put it in a dry Jar. Keep it closed. Shake well daily once For 4, 5 days, both morning & evening, stir it thoroughly.

4. Wait till it is very soft before making hot pickle.

5.. After water oozes out from the kidarangai Top this with the red chilly powder as a small heap and stir well.

6. Dry fry the fenugreek seeds in medium flame for a few seconds until they start to crackle and then turn off the heat and powder it.Then Add fenugreek powder and hing powder in the pickle.

7. Heat ½ cup gingelly oil & temper 1 tsp mustard seeds and Cool. Now add this oil to the pickle. Mix well thouroughly. Serve and enjoy with rice.

Note: Raw pickles need more oil.This will keep pickle long time.

Since Lime & citron are different in size, quantity of salt chillies should be adjusted .

Remove seed swhen cutting the fruit the pickle should keep long time.

Tips:

While making the pickle, make sure all the bowls, jars, blenders, knives, cutting boards and frying pans are dry. Even a single drop of water will ruin the pickle.

While serving the pickle, make sure to use clean spoons. The spoon should be very dry.

The best option is to transfer a small quantity of pickle in a separate small jar inorder to avoid accidentally using wet spoon and spoiling the whole preparation. It is easy for serving also.