Jan
Talents of dried lime
In many of our traditional dishes, especially stews like “ghormeh sabzi” and “gheymeh,” dried limes play a fundamental role. So much so that if they are absent, we hesitate to start cooking the stew and patiently wait until we can buy them to ease our minds at home!
Dried limes add a tangy and flavorful taste to the dishes, containing a plethora of vitamins and minerals. They aid in digestion, possess anti-cancer properties, and offer numerous health benefits. However, beyond its known advantages, there are many other talents that have been overlooked! I mean, it’s not just stews that can benefit from the presence of this noble ingredient! Let’s explore what can be done with dried limes and their various applications!
First and simplest of all, perhaps you have already tried it, is lime tea! Just adding a dried lime to tea or herbal infusions can give it a rich and exciting taste that uplifts the spirit and acts as a natural antibiotic. Lime tea can cool you down on hot days and alleviate sore throats and congestion on cold days.
With some lime peels, sugar, water, and a bit of lime juice, you can make lime candy or lime drops at home. Of course, the lime juice is essential to prevent the candy from cracking and to preserve the true taste of these lime delights. Prepare a syrup with water, sugar, and a little lime juice. Heat it, and when it thickens, immerse the dried lime drops in the syrup. Repeat this process until the syrup is used up. When the syrup cools and becomes completely solid, the lime drops are ready! Adding a popsicle stick to each candy before cooling can result in beautiful and flavorful lime lollipops.
For some recipes, dried limes may not be suitable for direct use, so we pierce or cut the lime and steep it in a small container of boiling water. After a few hours, we can separate the lime juice. Lime peel or lime pellets can also be used instead, making the process easier!
Now, what can be done with this lime juice?!
We can add this juice to the ingredients of a simple dessert to give it a good taste and a pleasant lime fragrance!
We can combine it with milk, sugar, and cream and put it in an ice cream mold to freeze, creating a simple and delicious ice cream.
Or we can make a tasty sauce for dishes and salads by combining dried lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. If you like a different flavor, you can add it to this delicious sauce—no limitations!
With lime juice, we can make marmalade, enhance the flavor of meat and chicken, or add a delightful taste to vegetables. It can be added to homemade bread, bringing joy and a special flavor, or used to give a simple yogurt a tasty twist! As we always say, in the realm of food, whatever the heart desires and whatever pleases the palate!
