Narthangai Pickle

Ingredients:
Narthangai / Citron - 5 nos., small orange sized
Crystal Salt / Sea Salt - 1/4 cup, heaped
Dry red chillies - 13-15 nos.
Turmeric Powder- 
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/8 teaspoon
Gingelly Oil - 100ml
Mustard seeds - 1 tablespoon

Method:

 Wash and wipe the narthangai.

Make sure there is no water content in the skin. Cut into wedges. While cutting, remove the seeds completely. Keep the Narthangai in a Broad plate and cut it so that the juice while cutting will stay in the plate. Remove the seeds.Choose a glass bottle which has a tight lid to it. Generally ceramic or Porcelain bowl is preferred. Squeeze half narthangai juice to the bottle. Layer narthangai wedges and sea / rock / crystal salt to the bowl.  Shake the bottle nicely.

Cover and set aside undisturbed for 3-4 days. Each day toss the bottle well two times with proper intervals. This allows the salt to mix well with the narthangai. After 3-4 days, narthangai wedges become soft and you can see the juice coming out from the narthangai. If it's not soft even on 4th day, you can again keep it for a day.

Remove narthangai from the bottle to a bowl. Heat oil in a pan. When it is hot, add mustard seeds. Let it splutter.At the end, add asafoetida Powder.Turn the flame off and allow it to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, pour this oil to the narthangai. Mix well.

Dry roast fenugreek seeds and dry red chillies.Make sure not to burn the fenugreek.Allow it to cool to room temperature.Once cooled,make a powder of it .Add turmeric powder to the mixer and add the ground ingredients  to the narthangai.

 After preparing the pickle, gradually the juice oozes out from the narthangai. This is normal and as day pass by the pickle turns soft and tasty. Adjust the salt, spice and oil quantity as per your preference. The measurement given here is the standard one.
 Pickle is ready. Store it in a sterilized bottle.

Recipe courtesy: Uma's Kitchen Experiments.