Short answer: yes, you can make achar in extra virgin olive oil. Let the lemons soften in salt for two days, then add a cooled olive oil tempering. Pour it in cold, never hot.
Ingredients
- 4 lemons, cut into small wedges
- 8 green chillies, slit
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp haldi
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds, coarsely crushed
- 1 tsp methi seeds, roasted and powdered
- 1/2 tsp hing
- 200ml BONO extra virgin olive oil
Method
- Toss the lemon and chilli with the salt and haldi in a clean, bone-dry glass jar.
- Leave it on the counter for two days, shaking once a day, until the rind softens and the lemons release their juice.
- On day three, warm half the BONO with the mustard, methi and hing until it just smells toasted. Cool it completely.
- Pour the cooled tempering in, then top up with the remaining raw oil so everything sits submerged.
Why pour the tempering in cold?
Hot oil hitting raw lemon cooks the rind and turns the pickle muddy. Kept submerged and served with a dry spoon, it keeps for months without refrigeration.
Made with BONO Extra Virgin Olive Oil. See all BONO recipes.