3. Good Organic Gardening - May-June 2016 AvxHome.in

FERMENTING & PICKLING | Preserved limes
Star ingredient: Limes
Preserved Limes
Preserved limes can stand in for preserved lemons in your cooking and are a good way to make use of
excess fruit. Add the chopped peel to tagines, salads and slow-cooked dishes. Be careful to use only
unrefined salt, as table salt and some sea salt contain anti-caking agents and other nasties you don’t
want in your preserve. The liquid will look cloudy at first but will clear in about a week.
Ingredients
• 8 limes, plus 8 more for juice
• 3 tbsp unrefined sea salt
• Cinnamon stick, broken
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cardamom pods
• 8 whole cloves
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 tbsp whey
Method
• Cut limes in quarters leaving them
attached at one end.
• Separate quarters and spoon sea
salt into the opened quarters.
• Pack the limes in a jar adding the
cinnamon stick, bay leaves and
spices. You may have to break a few
in half to pack them in.
• Add lime juice and whey to the jar.
Add water to cover the limes in
liquid and fill to 2cm below brim.
• Place a weight inside the jar
to hold the lemons down.
Cover tightly and keep at room
temperature for 2 weeks, turning
the jar once a day. Skim off any
mould that forms and re-cover.
Your limes will change from green
to yellow.
• Transfer to cold s torage.
78 | Good Organic Gardening