Name: Hot Stuffed Pickled Lemons (Imkhalal Lamoon)
Yield: Makes 4 pounds (1¾ kilograms) pickles
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: 7½ cups (approximately 1¾ liters) water; 6 tablespoons salt; 1 tablespoon nigella seeds; 4 pounds (approximately 1¾ kilograms) small lemons or key limes; 1 teaspoon safflower threads; 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil; ½ teaspoon salt

Preparation info

Makes
4 pounds
pickles

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Gaza Kitchen

By Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt

Published 2021

About

The large yellow lemons generally available in supermarkets can be used for this recipe, but if you can find small, round, thin-skinned fruit—key limes or Mexican limes would do—the result will be much closer to the delicate pickles consumed in Gaza, which are made with the indigenous Palestinian sweet lime.

Ingredients

4 pounds (approximately 1¾ kilograms) small lemons or key limes

Method

In a large pot, submerge the lemons (or limes) in enough water to cover them fully, then boil them for about 15 minutes. Drain, discarding the water. Set the lemons aside to cool.

Gently crush the safflower threads between your fingers. Combine them in a medium-sized bowl with the filfil mat’hoon, nigella seeds, salt, and olive oil.

Separately, boil the water for the pick