Preparation

• Wash and pat dry the lemons. This is very important, not a single drop of water should get mixed with pickle. Cut each lemon in to 8 triangular pieces as shown below.In a dry bottle add a layer of lemon pieces and some crystal salt on it as next layer. Like wise fill the bottle with lemon pieces and salt. Close the lid tightly. This step is to marinate lemon with salt. Let it rest at least 10 to 15 days. You can mix it every alternate day using a dry spoon.
  

Method

On the 16th day:

• Using dry spoon, separate the marinated lemon pieces and watery salt in to dry bowls from the bottle. Keep it aside.
  
• Add one more cup of water to the separated salt and bring it to boil till the water reduces to 3/4 cup. This is the salt water to be used in lemon pickle.
• Now heat a pan/kadai adding jaggery and little salt water. Prepare jaggery syrup of soft ball consistency. That is if you drop jaggery syrup in to small bowl of water, then it should not dissolve, instead you should be able to make ball out of it.
  
• Once that consistency is reached switch off the flame and add rest of the salt water immediately. Let it cool.
  
• Now in another pan/kadai dry roast mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds one after the other till they splutter or change in color. Then add around 2 teaspoons of oil to the same pan and roast red chillies too. Powder all these roasted spices finely in a mixer. This is lemon pickle masala.
  
• Now take large bowl and transfer the cooled jaggery syrup and lemon pickle masala prepared above. Mix it well and then add marinated lemon pieces. Mix well. Sweet lemon pickle is ready now.
  
• Transfer the lemon pickle in to a dry bottle, close the lid tightly and keep it for at least a month. The skin of lemon becomes soft with time and will be ready to use. The more time you keep this pickle the more tasty it would be.
• If handled properly it can stay good for several months. Enjoy sweet lemon pickle with curd rice. Yummy I must say.............
  

Note:

• In all these steps of pickle preparation keep water away and use clean and dry spoon, vessel or bottle through out.
• Jaggery syrup should be prepared making use of salt water itself, otherwise pickle will perish.
• Once jaggery syrup reaches soft ball consistency, immediately you need to switch off the flame and add the remaining salt water. Otherwise the syrup will harden and you cannot use.
• Let the jaggery syrup cool down to room temperature completely, only then proceed to add lemon pickle masala. Do not rush.
• You can increase/decrease jaggery as per your taste buds.