DRIED BLACK LIMES

These walnut-sized dehydrated citrus fruit are used whole or ground to perfume Persian-style dishes.

Shop Cooks' Ingredients Dried Black Limes

Pierce a whole lime a few times with a knife, then add it to perfume slow-cooked Persian-style stews.
Add pierced whole limes to the cooking liquid for fragrant rice dishes.
Blitz in a spice grinder to use in place of sumac – for example, to season Middle Eastern salads such as tabbouleh and fattoush, or sprinked over a dish of houmous or a slab of baked feta.
Use in a marinade for chicken, lamb or fish.
Crush, mix with equal parts salt, and add to the rim of a margarita glass.
Use ground limes to garnish pineapple, mango and kiwi.
Finely grate over a prawn curry to finish.
Store ground limes in a sealed container, so you always have some citric seasoning at the ready.

Middle Eastern-spiced roast chicken thighs

This fragrant chicken bake is wonderful served with a dish of spiced baked rice and a simple green salad.

Mix together the following: 1 ground black lime; ½ tbsp turmeric; ½ tbsp ground cumin; ½ tbsp nigella seeds; 1 tsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp cinnamon; 3 cloves of crushed garlic; 60g Greek yogurt; 1 tbsp honey; and 2 tbsp vegetable oil. Add 8 chicken thighs and mix thoroughly, massaging the paste into the chicken well. Marinate for 2 hours.
Add the chicken to a 200C/gas 6 oven and roast for 45 minutes, or until it is brown and charred in places and cooked through. Baste with leftover marinade a couple of times during cooking to build up a nice crust (though not within the final 20 minutes of cooking, as the marinade has been in contact with the raw meat). Rest for 5-10 minutes, then serve.

A staple of Iranian cooking, black limes are whole fruit that are blanched in salted water, before being dried until they’re rock hard and black, which accentuates their flavour and gives them a greatly extended shelf life.

DRIED BLACK LIMES

These walnut-sized dehydrated citrus fruit are used whole or ground to perfume Persian-style dishes.

Shop Cooks' Ingredients Dried Black Limes

WHAT DO DRIED BLACK LIMES TASTE LIKE?

Whether they’re added whole to braises or ground to use as a spice, they impart a tart, tangy and intense citrus flavour.

TIPS, TRICKS & HACKS

Pierce a whole lime a few times with a knife, then add it to perfume slow-cooked Persian-style stews.
Add pierced whole limes to the cooking liquid for fragrant rice dishes.
Blitz in a spice grinder to use in place of sumac – for example, to season Middle Eastern salads such as tabbouleh and fattoush, or sprinked over a dish of houmous or a slab of baked feta.
Use in a marinade for chicken, lamb or fish.
Crush, mix with equal parts salt, and add to the rim of a margarita glass.
Use ground limes to garnish pineapple, mango and kiwi.
Finely grate over a prawn curry to finish.
Store ground limes in a sealed container, so you always have some citric seasoning at the ready.

easy meal idea

Middle Eastern-spiced roast chicken thighs

This fragrant chicken bake is wonderful served with a dish of spiced baked rice and a simple green salad.

Mix together the following: 1 ground black lime; ½ tbsp turmeric; ½ tbsp ground cumin; ½ tbsp nigella seeds; 1 tsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp cinnamon; 3 cloves of crushed garlic; 60g Greek yogurt; 1 tbsp honey; and 2 tbsp vegetable oil. Add 8 chicken thighs and mix thoroughly, massaging the paste into the chicken well. Marinate for 2 hours.
Add the chicken to a 200C/gas 6 oven and roast for 45 minutes, or until it is brown and charred in places and cooked through. Baste with leftover marinade a couple of times during cooking to build up a nice crust (though not within the final 20 minutes of cooking, as the marinade has been in contact with the raw meat). Rest for 5-10 minutes, then serve.