Ingredients
Limes
- 1 kgsmall limes, thin-skinned
- 200 gcoarse non-iodised salt — 20% of the fruit’s weight
Optional
- 1 tbspchilli powder
- 1 tspground turmeric
- extra lime juice, to top up
Directions
- Wash the limes and dry them completely. Any water on the skins is where a jar goes mouldy.
- Cut each lime almost into quarters from the top, leaving the base intact so it stays in one piece.
- Pack coarse salt into the cuts of each lime, then pack them tightly into a clean jar, layering more salt between them.
- Twenty percent salt against the fruit’s weight is what makes this a room-temperature preserve rather than a fridge pickle, and it is not a figure to reduce.
- Press the limes down hard as you pack so the juice is forced out. Within two or three days they should be sitting submerged in their own juice — if not, top up with fresh lime juice, never water.
- Seal and stand the jar in the sun for the first two weeks, shaking daily. The sun softens and darkens the skins.
- Move it somewhere cool and leave at least six weeks in total. The limes go from green through olive to a deep brown, and the skins soften completely.
- They keep for years and improve throughout. Sliver the skin finely into rice and curries, or suck a small piece for nausea, which is the household remedy it doubles as.
Technique
- Twenty percent salt, weighed. This is a shelf preserve and the salt is the whole safeguard.
- Top up with lime juice, never water. Water dilutes both the acid and the brine.
- It is the skin that is eaten. The pulp goes to nothing.
Substitutions
- Lemons in place of limes, which gives a milder preserve.
- Chilli and turmeric added for a spiced version.
Variations
- Chopped into a sambol with chilli and onion.
- The Mauritian limon confi and Moroccan preserved lemon are the same idea.
History
A Sri Lankan household preserve aged for months; also taken as a home remedy for nausea and travel sickness.
Frequently asked questions
What is Lunu Dehi?
Lunu Dehi is a fermented & pickled from Sri Lanka: limes salted whole and matured in jars until soft, dark and intensely sour. A Sri Lankan household preserve aged for months; also taken as a home remedy for nausea and travel sickness.
How long does Lunu Dehi take to make?
Lunu Dehi takes 30 min plus 6 to 8 weeks curing of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes fills a 1-litre jar. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Lunu Dehi?
Yes, within limits. Lemons in place of limes, which gives a milder preserve. Chilli and turmeric added for a spiced version.
What is the most important thing to get right in Lunu Dehi?
Twenty percent salt against the fruit’s weight is what makes this a room-temperature preserve rather than a fridge pickle, and it is not a figure to reduce.
