Lemon Curry

Lemon curry plays a very important role when serving the onam lunch. The lemon used here is vadukkapuli lemon. I do not know the translation of this particular lemon. If it is me, who is cooking I would use any lemon available to me in that particular place.

Ingredients:

1. 1 kg lemon
2. lemon sized tamarind
3. 2 tsp. turmeric powder
4. 100 gms chilli powder
5. salt as required
6. mustard
7. curry leaves
8. dried red chillies
9. 2-3 tsp. fried and ground fenugreek seeds (methi/uluva)

Method:

• Cut the lemon into small pieces.
• Take the juice out of the tamarind and put it in a heavy bottomed vessel and cook.
• Add 8 glasses of water.
• Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. When it starts boiling set the flame to low.
• When the water has evaporated to almost 4 glasses and the tamarind and chilli has cooked, add the cut lemon pieces and mix. It should not cook for more than a minute. Take it off the stove.
• Splutter the mustard seeds, dry chillies and curry leaves in a little coconut oil. When it cools down a bit add the powdered fenugreek and mix it with the lemon curry.
• This curry has shelf life of 2 weeks, so can be prepared before onam.

Source: Vanitha magazine, April 1-14, 2006.