There are a few kitchen disappointments as small yet consistently annoying as reaching for a lemon and finding it shrivelled, discoloured, or worse, growing a fuzzy patch of mould you did not expect after just a few days. Lemons are a staple in nearly every Indian kitchen, showing up in everything from a quick squeeze over dal to nimbu pani, pickles, and marinades, which makes it especially frustrating when they spoil before you have had a chance to use even half of what you bought. The good news is that lemons, unlike many other fruits, are actually quite forgiving if stored correctly, and with a handful of simple techniques, you can easily stretch their freshness from a few days at room temperature to several weeks, or in some cases even months, without any special equipment.
