SWEET & SPICY PRESERVED LEMONS

I have been inspired to come up with some options of ways to use the many lemons that are about to be ripe on my lemon tree. Unfortunately they are the lumpy Cape Lemons with a thick skin and a sweeter fruit, but I reckon preserving them will be fantastic.

I decided to try out 3 different options so here is option ONE! It’s a Sweet & Spicy pickled lemon that will be perfect in savoury dishes from chicken and fish to beautiful lemon rice and chopped in salads.

I used Lemongold lemons that are available in South Africa. They are a thin skinned seedless variety but I’ll use my lumpy Cape Lemons in the future.

Once bottles or jarred the lemon will need to sit on a shelf for a month to pickle and allow the flavour to develop.

Here’s how to make it:

SWEET & SPICY PRESERVED LEMONS

INGREDIENTS

2 large lemons

To Boil:
6 limes juice (or 180ml lime and lemon juice combined)
100 ml white wine vinegar
200 grams sugar

Dry ingredients:
1 flat teaspoon ginger powder
1 tsp red chilli flakes
3 tsp course sea salt

METHOD

• Rinse the lemons well under cold water.

• Top and tail the lemon just removing the hard nibs. Cut each lemon into 6ths and place them in a jar. I used a bell shaped sterile jar and added 1 lemon per jar.

• Squeeze your limes and set the juice aside. The limes can be composted.

• In a small saucepan heat the lemon/lime juice, sugar and vinegar until they dissolve then continue to simmer until they form a syrupy consistency. It takes about 15 minutes.

• In another bowl, combine chili powder, salt and ginger powder.

• Layer the lemons into the jar and sprinkle with the salt and spice mixture.

• Pour the liquid over the lemons into the jar and close tightly.

• Store the jars in a warm place for a month!

Tips: If you use seeded lemons then make sure to remove all the seeds before bottling them.

You can also use sliced lemons and layer them with the dry ingredients. You can pack them tightly into the jar and then cover with the boiled vinegar-lemon mixture.

I doubled the liquid in order to float my lemons. I’m wondering if they’re going to drop lower into the liquid over time, but let’s wait and see what happens.

You can also make a larger jar and double the fruit and liquid. Amounts will vary depending on how tightly you pack the lemons.

I can’t wait to include these yummy lemons in my cooking, but the waiting game is real. I’ll probably make a batch per week so that in a months time have a batch ready every week following that. My family are all getting lemon preserves as gifts this year 😂!

Let me know if you try this recipe and how your lemons turn out.