Loomi - what is it?

A loomi is a key ingredient in Persian and Middle East cooking. Some soups or stews - particularly Lebanese and Egyptian lentil soup - would be diminished without it. It's the loomi that gives them their sour flavor. 

A loomi is a lime that has been boiled then dried. This turns it a dull gray-green color. You push your thumb into it to crack its dessicated skin and make a hole for the liquids to swill around and pick up its sour taste.

Buy them in Middle East markets, like Yekta. They're sometimes called Black Lemons and come powdered as well as whole, for adding to dishes like Persian rice.

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