When life gives you lemons…all the ‘gyaan’ you needed on lemons
My super talented sister Cherida Fernandez will henceforth be a regular contributor to my blog PottyPadre. Today she will share with you her gyaan on lemons; from preserving it, to its origins and its uses. Oh by the way the artwork is hers too…
Preserved lemon.
3-4 ripe lemons.
Approximately 75 g coarse salt
500 ml glass jar with lid.
1-2 lemons just for juice.(don’t throw away that peel!)
Once you have bought some thin skinned,ripe, lemons.
Slice the whole lemon 3/4ths of the way down into quarters. Don’t cut all the way through. You now have 4 wedges. Sprinkle some coarse salt within the cut lemon. Bring it back into shape with your hands and pack it tightly into the jar.
Do this with all the lemons and once you are done top with some salt and close the lid. Your aim is to have them tightly packed and eventually covered in juice.
For the next 4 days all you have to do is keep it at room temperature, away from the sun and flip or shake the jar. This releases the lemon juice in time.
After 4 days take the 5th lemon and top the jar with its juice. At this point if the lemons are not covered in juice you’ll will probably have to use the juice of one more.
Seal your tightly packed lemon jar well and place it in the fridge or in a dark dry corner and you could flip it from time to time or leave it alone.
Once the skins have changed colour your preserved lemons are ready! This takes a few months and patience on your end. The Moroccans use them after 7 months. It has a shelf life of 6 months but personally once opened if stored in the fridge I have used it for much longer. The longer they are left the more softer, richer and darker they become.
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