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Lime pickle (Peter Kuruvita)

Lime pickle

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Peter Kuruvita’s published lime pickle stuffs 20 limes with rock salt, then simmers them in vinegar, sugar and chilli before a two-week rest.

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Softened, quarter-cut golden lime pickle in a shallow ivory bowl.

History

Peter Kuruvita’s 2009 cookbook places this recipe among Sri Lankan chutneys, sambals and pickles. A Gourmet Traveller editorial page credits Kuruvita and Flying Fish but changes two listed amounts. Neither publication dates the food’s origin.

Ingredients

Yield 2 1 L jars · Scaling: source batch only

LimesCut into quarters without cutting through the base; reserve any juice.
20
Rock saltCombine with the peppercorns and stuff into the cut limes.
250 g
Black peppercornsWhole peppercorns.
20
White vinegar
500 mL
The page also gives 2 cups.
Caster sugar
400 g
Dried chilli flakes
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded

Method

Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Unvalidated jar storage direction

The book directs jars to stand in a cool, dark place for at least two weeks and says the liquid may not initially cover the limes. It specifies no jar-closure step, validated storage process, acidity endpoint or after-opening guidance.

Hazard source

The book’s two-week rest and cool-dark storage directions are not a validated shelf life or room-temperature safety claim.

No numerical acidity endpoint, measured simmer temperature, after-opening guidance, or qualified process review is established.

  1. Cut the limes from top to bottom into quarters, leaving the base joined, and reserve the juice.
  2. Mix the rock salt and peppercorns. Fill the cuts in the limes with this mixture and stand the fruit upright on a tray.
  3. Put the vinegar, sugar, chilli flakes and reserved lime juice in a wide saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil.
  4. Set the limes in the pan with their cut sides facing up. Bring the liquid back to a boil, cover, and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes, until the limes turn yellow.
  5. Take the pan off the heat and allow it to cool.
  6. Loosely pack the limes into two sterilized 1 L jars and pour the cooking liquid over them. The book excerpt says the liquid need not cover the fruit immediately; that statement is not a validated storage or safety instruction.
  7. Stand the jars in a cool, dark place for at least two weeks before using. The book gives this resting instruction without a closure step or validated shelf life.

Conditions

Yield2 1 L jars

Places

Sri Lanka

Traditional preparation · Country evidence

Broader lunu dehi context; the article does not locate Kuruvita's exact formula.

See Sri Lankaon the mapLocation source 1 →

Sydney

Historical attestation · Locality evidence

Murdoch Books' 2009 publication place, not where the pickle originated or was prepared.

See Sydneyon the mapLocation source 1 →

Related

Made from

  • Black peppercorns

    Black peppercorns are dried fruits of Piper nigrum, valued for piperine pungency and volatile aroma; whole peppercorns season Peter Kuruvita's lime pickle.

  • Dried chilli flakes

    Dried chilli flakes are broken dried Capsicum fruit used for dispersed heat, colour and flavour; Peter Kuruvita's lime pickle includes one teaspoon.

  • Lime

    Lime brings sour juice, fragrant peel and firm rind to fresh food and preserved condiments; the fruit named in a recipe may belong to several citrus types.

  • Salt

    Food-grade sodium chloride seasons food and changes water movement in brines and cures; crystal size and the recipe's measurement method matter.

Variants

  • Lunu dehi

    Lunu dehi is Sri Lankan salted lime pickle. This version sun-dries cut, salt-stuffed ripe limes, then packs them with dried lime juice, chillies, spices and vinegar.

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    Achcharu is a family of Sri Lankan vinegar pickles made with mixed vegetables or seasonal fruit and a piquant spice dressing. This version is a quick, refrigerated, non-fermented mixed-vegetable pickle.

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    Appam, or hoppers, are South Indian and Sri Lankan rice pancakes made from a fermented coconut-and-rice batter and cooked in a curved pan to a crisp lacy rim and a soft, spongy centre.

  • Goraka

    Goraka is the dried rind of Garcinia quaesita, a souring ingredient for Sri Lankan curries. Its drying is documented, but no complete household method is.

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    Lunu miris is Sri Lanka's pounded onion and chilli sambol: chilli flakes and red onion crushed with salt and lime, often with Maldive fish, eaten in small amounts with hoppers, pol roti and kiribath.

  • Maldive fish

    Maldive fish is a hard, smoke-dried tuna product made in the Maldives and traded especially to Sri Lanka, where it is known as umbalakada. Cooks shave or pound it into a concentrated savory seasoning for sambols, curries and other dishes.

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    A Sri Lankan wheat flatbread made from thinly stretched, oil-rested dough and cooked briefly on a dry griddle until soft.

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    A Sri Lankan coconut relish made from grated coconut, aromatics, chilli, lime and optional Maldive fish; a seasoned paste is folded through the coconut by hand.

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Sources