Over 20 years in Israel, I got so used to them, as if from childhood, especially since my youth I ate lemons not with sugar, but with salt (a Syrian friend at the institute became addicted)... These lemons are something like sauerkraut for us. or pickled cucumbers in Russia, especially since pickled cucumbers are not very popular here, unlike pickled ones. They say: Eh...well, it’s only you “Russians” who do that. Therefore, it’s strange for me to talk about an authentic recipe, for example, which recipe for pickling cucumbers or cabbage is correct and which is not. One housewife adds garlic, another adds horseradish leaves, a third adds root, and a fourth adds hot pepper. One cabbage is torn into burdocks, another with carrots and finely chopped, and the third into quarters. Same with lemons. There are ways of salting in quarters, in halves, and also in half-rings. You can add lemon juice, or you can without it. The time of their readiness depends on all this, from a week to a month. I salt them the way my second cousin's husband, a sultry eastern native Israeli, does. The recipes in my books (on Syrian, Moroccan and Israeli cuisine) revolve around the same thing, and differ mainly in seasonings and the size of the cuts) Sometimes they are loaded into jars in layers with salt and garlic, and sometimes. like me, they salt it and let it sit. I like to cut lemons into half rings: they ferment faster, and it’s more convenient to use later, and then you don’t have to cut the wet product that slips out of your hands.
Oriental cuisine is unthinkable without pickled lemons. The spicy, aromatic smell is the calling card of any shwarm or falafel shop. All kinds of sauces and seasonings are prepared from them, added to salads, baked meat and chicken. You can’t even imagine what will happen to the fish if such a lemon touches it. It is impossible to list where they can be stuck. Pickled lemons came to us from Arab cuisine; they are widely used as a seasoning in Morocco and Syria.

So, the recipe...
Main Ingredients
1 kg of ripe, yellow, preferably thin-skinned lemons (about 9 pieces)
70gr. coarse salt (3-3.5 heaped tablespoons)
Olive oil

Additional Ingredients:
Garlic
Sweet paprika
Hot dried pepper, or hot Yemeni seasoning skhug, or hot paprika - Quantity as desired

Possible additives:
cardamom seeds, thyme, cloves, bay leaves, oregano, black pepper, onions...

In addition to salt, I only use sweet paprika, skhug or hot pepper and garlic. But I cited possible additives found in my books and on Israeli websites for those who want to get creative. Lemons are now everywhere, so you can experiment with small jars. In one book there is a recipe for long-term fermentation of lemons, about a month. If anyone is interested, I can translate it. It is written that according to this recipe they turn out exceptionally tender.

Wash the lemons thoroughly with a brush and scald with boiling water. Cut in half lengthwise and then into slices about 1/2 cm thick. If the lemons have a lot of seeds, partially peel them.
Separately, mix salt and paprika, add lemons, add other seasonings as desired and mix the lemons thoroughly with your hands so that the salt is distributed.

Leave for an hour or two so that the lemons give juice and then tightly fill a pre-prepared clean scalded jar with them, pour in the juice that has been released and pour olive oil on top, in a layer of about 1 cm, to prevent molding. If there is not enough juice, squeeze the juice from the lemon and add to the top. Close tightly, shake and wait

After a few days, check and if the lemons have settled, add freshly squeezed lemon juice. The lemons should be ready in a week or two. Ready to put in the refrigerator

The only problem for me with pickling is that I start trying the very next day, and after a week there are no more ready-made ones left.
Ideas with additives partially

Pickled lemons are very common in Middle Eastern cuisine. They are sold ready-made in every supermarket, but many people prefer to ferment lemons at home during their ripening season.
Pickled lemons have a wide range of uses: they are added to meat and fish, used as a dressing for salads and an addition to sandwiches.
Each housewife has her own signature recipe, which she considers the best.
Some ferment lemons whole, others cut them into slices. You can choose either method, I will describe both.
During fermentation, the taste of lemons changes, just like any pickled vegetables, it becomes peculiarly piquant, so replacing it with just lemons will not be equivalent.

The preparation of lemons is the same for all methods.

1. Buy lemons that are as ripe and juicy as possible. Unripe lemons will taste bitter; lemons that have been sitting for a long time will not yield enough juice.
2. Wash the lemons thoroughly, use a stiff washcloth and dishwashing liquid to remove not only the dirt, but also the wax that is on the citrus peel. Wipe the lemons dry.

Pickling lemons into thin slices (express preparation).

1 kg lemons

75 g coarse non-iodized salt

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 hot pepper, seeds and membranes removed

1/4 cup olive/any vegetable oil

Preparation.

1. Prepare a clean and dry glass jar.
2. Cut the lemons crosswise into slices 3-5 mm thick.
3. Place the lemon slices in a bowl and sprinkle with salt, paprika and pepper.
4. Mix well and even remember the lemons with salt and spices, and then very tightly, with force, fill the jar with them to the very top.
5. Close the jar and place it in a well-lit place (preferably on a windowsill).
6. After a day, the lemons should be covered with juice. If this does not happen, add freshly squeezed lemon juice to the top of the jar.
7. Once the juice has been released, pour a layer of olive oil into the jar.

Good, ripe lemons will be ready in three days; not so ripe ones may take a week.

Pickle lemons in thick slices or whole.

1 kg lemons

2 large lemons (for juice and sealing)

500 g coarse non-iodized salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. If you want to ferment whole lemons, use a sharp knife to cut each lemon lengthwise to the pulp. Four to six such cuts need to be made, depending on the size of the lemon. If you want to ferment in slices, cut the lemons crosswise into slices 1-1.5 cm thick.

2. Pour as much salt into each cut on the lemon as will fit. Dip lemon slices in salt so that both sides of the slice are covered with a salt crust.

3. Place the lemons (slices) in a clean and dry jar. The jar should be packed tightly, but without force. Lemons should fill the jar entirely, not reaching 1 cm from the top.

4. Cut enough slices from one extra lemon to cover the entire neck of the jar. From the second extra lemon and some of the one you just used, squeeze the juice and pour it into the jar.

5. Place the lemon slices without salt in the top layer in the jar so that they cover the entire area of ​​the lid like a lid. Pour oil over the layer of lemons.

6. Close the jar hermetically and leave at room temperature for 3-4 weeks. Turn and shake the jar occasionally to mix the salt and juice.

Pickled lemons are widely used in Israel and several other Middle Eastern countries.

These lemons have a very interesting taste that you may not like right away. Where can pickled lemons be used? You can use them to make a salad dressing. For the sauce, just take a couple of slices, add olive oil and blend (at the same time grind the lemon slices) with a blender. These lemons are very suitable for cooking fish and meat. I also like pickled lemons with rice.

How to prepare “Pickled lemons” step by step with photos at home

You need to take a container large enough to fit the sliced ​​lemons and make it convenient to mix them. In this container mix 70 g of salt, 1 tbsp. l. sugar, 1 tsp. ground red pepper and add finely chopped garlic - 2 cloves. Sugar brings out the acidity of the lemon and helps the lemons soften.

Lemons (it is better to take with thin skin) - wash 500 g thoroughly, cut into thin slices. Then cut the circles into halves. If there are a lot of seeds, then it is better to remove most of them. It is not critical if a small part of the seeds remains in the lemons.

Then you need to put all the lemon slices in the jar (you need to put them tightly). There, somewhere on the side, put 1 bay leaf. The released juice, salt and spices that remain at the bottom of the container must also be transferred to a jar with lemons. Leave the jar of lemons in a warm place for 3 days. You can shake occasionally to distribute the spices evenly. And only after 3 days, add olive oil (there is no need to add oil right away, since lemons need time to ripen). Pickled lemons are ready.

as if from childhood, especially since my youth I ate lemons not with sugar, but with salt. These lemons are something like sauerkraut or pickled cucumbers in Russia, especially since pickled cucumbers are not very popular here, unlike pickled cucumbers.

They say: Eh...well, it’s only you “Russians” who do that. Therefore, it’s strange for me to talk about an authentic recipe, for example, which recipe for pickling cucumbers or cabbage is correct and which is not. One housewife adds garlic, another adds horseradish leaves, a third adds root, and a fourth adds hot pepper. One cabbage is torn into burdocks, another with carrots and finely chopped, and the third into quarters. Same with lemons.

There are ways of salting in quarters, in halves, and also in half-rings. You can add lemon juice, or you can without it. The time of their readiness depends on all this, from a week to a month. I salt them the way my second cousin's husband, a sultry eastern native Israeli, does. The recipes in my books (for Syrian, Moroccan and Israeli cuisine revolve around the same thing, and differ mainly in seasonings and size of cuts). Sometimes they are loaded into jars in layers with salt and garlic, and sometimes they are salted and allowed to sit. I like to cut lemons into half rings: they ferment faster, and are more convenient to use later, and then you don’t have to cut the wet product that slips out of your hands.

Prepare sleighs in summer and lemons in winter. And before prices for lemons begin to rise and the season is not over, you can still have time to stock up on a jar of fragrant lemons.

I won’t tell you for all of Tunisia, but in Israel it is generally accepted that the fashion for pickled lemons came to Israel along with the Tunisian sandwich (bread, canned tuna, egg, roasted red pepper, black olives, green onions and... pickled lemons! ).

But they are also good in many other ways, such as in a sauce for meat cutlets, in a salad with rice (or quinoa or burgul or...), in mayonnaise, in spaghetti, on a piece of black bread with sour cream, with boiled potatoes or beans , to avocado, etc. And of course, lemon with fish is a classic.

Lentils with lemon.

Quinoa with lemon.

Cooking procedure.

Wash the lemons thoroughly, cut them into slices and remove the seeds. Since lemons have a dominant taste, it is worth cutting them thinly.

Mix salt, sugar, sweet paprika and chili. Instead of the last two components, you can take hot paprika or nothing at all. But salt is required. :)

Mix.

Dip lemons on both sides, shake off excess salt and place in a jar scalded with boiling water. All recipes emphasize the importance of touching the lemons as little as possible and not putting them into the jar. Alternatively, you can salt each piece by hand without dipping it, or, on the contrary, place everything in a fairly large bowl and shake it so that all the slices dip themselves. The kids will love it. :) I salted each slice myself, without resorting to extremes.

Put it in a jar. Somewhere in the middle, on the side (so that you can smell all the slices) you can stick a bay leaf. You can add English allspice.

After a day, fill it to the top with either water (bad, because it dilutes the taste) or lemon juice. And fill it with vegetable oil on top (according to Sheri Ansky’s version, fill it with oil at the bottom after 3 days!) to prevent contact with air: this is not Camembert and we don’t need mold here. Leave it in the room for another three days, and then put it in the refrigerator. If you add olive oil, you will have the opportunity to see how olive it really is: only olive oil freezes in the refrigerator. You can eat it right away, but it is recommended to let it sit for a week.

I have seen options to periodically turn the jar over so that all the lemons are in the liquid, put half a lemon under the lid, which will press the lemons down and only this half on top of the oil will become moldy, but I would advise just not putting the lemons all the way to the top and then everything will be fine pour in juice and oil and do not turn anything over and without any mold (the question is how important it is to press something on them for better fermentation). All versions emphasize the importance of reaching into the jar with a clean, wiped fork, and not with greasy hands.

With spices.

Without spices and another cooking option: not slices, but quarters. I don’t know why they do this, the jar fits more into slices and it will be more convenient to cut later.

Well, the proportions.
Option 1.
3 medium lemons + lemons for juice.
Half a glass of coarse salt.
A teaspoon of hot or sweet paprika.
Half a teaspoon of sugar (optional).
A couple of bay leaves.
Vegetable oil.

Option 2.
1 kg lemons.
3-4 tablespoons of coarse salt.
I don’t know how such a quantity of salt can be enough for a kg of lemons.

Option 3.
1 kg. lemons.
0.5 kg. salt.
Thus, the variation in salt in the options is colossal and everyone can do as they please. I simply sprinkled each slice on both sides and popped it into the jar without much thought. :) In many versions, the amount of salt is not written down at all.

Option 4.
6 medium lemons.
6 tablespoons of salt.
1 smooth spoon of sweet paprika.
lemon juice.
A quarter cup of oil.

Option from Sheri Ansky.
0.5 kg lemons.
2 tablespoons of coarse salt.
1 spoon of sugar.
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil.
According to the famous Israeli culinary specialist Sheri Ansky, sugar helps lemons soften and gives shine to the juice, and sweetness does not affect the acidity of the lemon, but emphasizes it. In addition, sugar preserves like salt. Add oil only after three days of fermentation, that is, give them more time to ferment.