The dried citrons or narthangai are one of the most commonly used ingredients during postpartum. We make this pickle from the dried narthangai swirls or uppu narthangai, as we say in Tamil. For the alphabet N, I didn’t have any second thoughts. I wanted to post this recipe for sure. My husband and Amma were suggesting a couple more, but I stayed with this one. Narthangai belongs to the citrus family, and the dried swirls are known for their health benefits. When we were sick, either down with flu or cold or cough, Amma used to serve rasam rice with this dried narthangai, also known as uppu narthangai. Uppu Narthangai aids in digestion removes the bitterness in the tongue during fever. It is also used for treating nausea, vomiting. During my first trimester, I always had uppu narthangai in my bag. And during postpartum, uppu narthangai and nendram chips were my sides for all the meals. Even though there were veggies, I loved my rasam rice with narthangai and nendram chips. I always have a stock of uppu narthangai at home even now. As I mentioned before, we make this pickle with dried citron. So before getting into the recipe, let me share how to prepare uppu narthangai. Between, I bought these from India. Amma used to prepare them in summer if she gets narthangai.
Dried narthangai / uppu narthangai:
You can use store-bought dried citron or homemade ones for this recipe. I have tried both. Here is how you make this dried citron at home. Wash the citron and chop them into two halves. You can use the juice to prepare rice similar to lemon rice or sun dry it along with the pulp. Chop them in circles and soak them in saltwater for a couple of days. Then drain them and sundry them for a couple of days until they are dried and store them in airtight container.
Now coming back to the recipe, this pickle is super simple. Soak the dried narthangai in hot water and temper it. That’s it. When you can’t find citron, and if you have dried ones at home, this comes in handy.
How to make citron pickle / narthangai oorugai:
Soak the dried narthangai in hot water for about 8 hrs or till they become tender.
Discard the water (it will be too salty).
Chop them into bite sized pieces.
Heat the tempering pan or kadai and add oil. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. As they start to splutter, reduce the heat to low and add methi powder, hing, and red chili powder. Fry for a minute. Make sure you don’t burn them. Add this to the chopped narthangai and mix well.
Let it site overnight for all the oil and red chili powder to incorporate. That’s it. A perfect side for curd rice.
Recipe Notes:
When you are adding the dry powder, reduce the heat to low and add them. We don’t want to burn the spice powders. Do not use a plastic container for storing the narthangai pickle. It’s not safe to pour the hot tempering in a plastic container. Glassware or regular stainless steel is preferable. The dried citron that I used was very salty, so I discarded the water and didn’t add any salt further. Depending upon how salty the citron is, adjust the salt and add accordingly. Adjust the salt and spices as per your taste.
More pickle recipes from my blog:
Instant mango pickle Gooseberry pickle Carrot pickle Cherry thokku
P.S.: If you try this narthangai oorugai, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it A.S.A.P. Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest for more healthy and delicious ideas! Follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more gardening and recipe updates! You can also sign-up for my newsletter for weekly updates.
📖 Recipe
