NewtownClown said:
I shouldn't admit the here, given the importance of exactitude in the brewing process, but I kind of mixed and matched from a few recipes, including my mother in laws (she's Fijian Indian, but I suspect she left out ingredients, so I used google too). What I did was;
-Boiled approx 8 limes for about 10 mins ( I'd shorten the time by at least half next time)
- cut limes into chunks ( quarter wedges, cut in half or thirds)
- put in a ceramic bowl with about 20 cloves of garlic, cut chunky, about 1/3 cup of salt, a but load of freshly cracked pepper and a tablespoon of chilli powder (if I used fresh chilli, I'd cut it up fine for maximum coverage).
- covered with glad wrap and a tea towel and left on kitchen bench for a week, every day or so I gave it a stir and usually added a large pinch of salt - taste it, you'll know if it can handle more salt - if it can, it needs more.
- after a week, I added a good Tablespoon of mustard seeds, 2 bay leaves, a few cardamom pods, a cinnamon stick and about six cloves to 1/3 cup of hot olive oil and fried them off till fragrant but not burnt. I remove the bay, cinnamon and cardamom.
- Then, I stirred about a tablespoon of garam Marsala into the lime/ garlic mix and added the to the hot oil. I heated this to a boil and made sure the oil was well incorporated. this went into 2 jars I had sterilised with boiling water, and sanitised with starsan (I probably should have read up on bottling - my method might have been insufficient to ensure a safe, preserved product).
- I waited two weeks to eat & it's pretty good - could handle more chilli and maybe more dry spices, but the lime skin is nice and chewy and the flesh of the lines is spreadable and piquant.
I'll do this again, maybe with green mango next time, and I'll keep playing with the balance if spices until I get it bang on.