We very rarely have take out but some of our family wanted to return the favour for all the cooking we do so treated us to an Indian Takeaway.

Amongst the order was "lime pickle" which is spicy, tart, tangy, hot and probably a few other things all in one go.

It had lots of oil, large pieces of green (which oddly looked more like peppers than lime?... could it have been green chilli peppers and the lime was only juice?) but what I want to know is what was likely to be in there that was hard, very hard...almost teeth breaking !

I got several pieces of it and chewed around but had to remove it from my mouth. It looked like a short piece of bone or a slither of root ginger (similar colour as well) but was too hard to eat !... what would that be?

Steve

You didn't take a picture by any chance? Easier to identify then.

Mamta

I have never encountered a lime pickle with pepper? (unless they gave you Mixed pickle -- but still all the ingredients are cheweable!!!) Well I would take the pickle back to him to show him or change the take away shop next time.

I have one pic with the pickle just about showing... but you can't really see the offending items until its been eaten...(even I draw the lines at taking pictures of food thats been chewed up...lol)

Steve

Sounds terrible. Probably tastes nice but you dont want to ferret around in your mouth for bits that you want to spit out.

I'm not a big fan of food that you have to remove if I'm honest and my first thought was its something thats accidently got in the mix ! That can't be a good idea to be in there, even if its vital for a specific flavour I'd make sure it was taken out before serving (I always count cinnamon sticks/bay leaves into recipes and count them out again.. )

Steve

Sounds like you had either mixed pickle or hot lime and mango pickle. The hard bit is the nut from the centre of the green mango, found in many jars of mango containing pickle, the one in oil, not sugar/vinegar, which is a chutney, of course.

It wasn't nut shaped lapis, it was more of a flat thin rectangle like a slice of ginger or a piece of bone !

Steve

I still think it was mango stone, it is very common in jars of mango pickle. It is only a bit of a stone, but sometimes it is still attached to the flesh. I get it all the time, so much so that I always probe it very carefully, for stones and tops of chillies!

Being attached to the flesh sounds right.. as I didn't notice bits in until I started chewing into it?.. do you think its been cut in a machine or something thats not quite got rid of the stone?..I don't think you would have cut through them by hand without a lot of a struggle..

Steve

haven't given it much thought, but don't forget the fruit that finds its way into such condiments are not the freshest, or have the most integrity, it could be that some mangoes are just rotten. Maybe I would go along with the machine explanation ;?)

I have been thinking about it and have come to the conclusion that it might have been Gunda berry, a kind of Indian berry also called Gumberry/Labeda/Lasora/Lisora, Botanical Name Cordia gheraf, Cordia myxa, Cordia dichotoma

http://chachiskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/03/gunda-ne-keri-jo-athanu-mango-and-gunda.html

http://www.tropicalfruitandveg.co.uk/showdetail.php?srcname=Gunda&img=main

Gujrati people often add it to their pickles, it is like a small gooseberry, but darker green and has a stone indie. It is possible that flesgh had 'come off' the stone and you bit into the stone.

Mamta

That might be it then... seems an odd thing to do though...nearly broke my teeth !... lol

Steve

Oh so it was gunda berry?, but what was it doing in a lime pickle, surely this is mixed pickle.

Well, if you were an Indian, you would know that there is a stone inside and will eat accordingly, carefully ;-)! LOL!!

Mamta

I've just encountered the rock hard nut thing in my lime pickle wasn't pleasant.

Don't really know, and guessing isn't easy, except what I have said aboveabove. Any chance of sending me a picture via contact link above or posting it on my Facebook page; https://www.facebook.com/mamtaskitchen/

Mamta