Hasnain says:

““My paternal grandmother’s legacy lives on in the khatta-meeta nimbu achar [salty-sweet lemon pickle] she made a month before she passed away in September 2001,” said Vernika Awal, a food writer based in the Delhi National Capital Region who has only 250 grammes (8.8oz) left in a 1kg (2.2lb) bottle that is now 22 years old.

From what Vernika recalls of the process, her Punjabi family uses lemons with a slightly hard peel. They are mixed with ajwain, khand (powdered jaggery), black salt and table salt. Mustard oil, heated to smoking point, is added. The mix is then put out in the sun.

“We eat this sparingly … and through it recall the memory my grandmother, feeling her presence even after two decades. … It’s a physical form of memory, savouring something made so long ago,” she added.”

Posted on 2023-10-02T03:49:30+0000