This lime pickle potato salad is perfect for spring
Bring some zing to your spring menu with Tamara's zesty recipe.
Fresh Ideas
Lime pickle is really special to me because it’s about understanding my Mum’s childhood in Sri Lanka, and the food and traditions my relatives brought with them to Australia. The older I get, the more important it is to me to discover and treasure these family stories.
Growing up, we’d always have jars of lime pickle in the fridge. Mum loved to cook spicy food, but on the off-chance the food wasn’t spicy – or we’d have friends over from school who couldn’t handle the heat – we’d keep the spicy condiment on the side and dig in.
“Mum remembers making lime pickle back in Sri Lanka. They’d cut the limes into quarters, almost all the way through, then they were packed with salt and placed on newspaper.”
- Tamara
Mum remembers making lime pickle back in Sri Lanka. They’d cut the limes into quarters, almost all the way through, then pack the limes with salt and place them on newspaper to dry out in the sun, before being jarred with the rest of the spices and vinegar. Mum’s job was to go out and change the newspaper every few days.
Lime pickle isn’t very hard to make. I dry mine out in a low-temperature oven rather than the sun, which makes it even easier and quicker. Lime pickle is also available in some Woolworths stores, if you need a fast fix!
"To me, lime pickle is the perfect hit of saltiness, sourness and spiciness that epitomises the food that I love.”
- Tamara
When my husband Tim and I finally got our first home, the first plant that we bought was a lime tree. I’m really impatient when it comes to gardening, so I made sure the small lime tree I bought was laden with fruit, and immediately used all of it to make a big batch of lime pickle. I’ll try to give the next batch to my family and friends for an easy, edible DIY gift, but my current batch is so precious, so I ration it out
To me, lime pickle is the perfect hit of saltiness, sourness and spiciness that epitomises the food that I love. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a curry, but I also love using it in new dishes.
Potato salad is a crowd-pleaser, but I love to put my own spin on things and the punchy flavour of the pickle really brings the potato salad to life.