Loomi (Dried Lime): How It Is Made, How It Tastes and How to Cook With It

Loomi is a whole lime that has been boiled in salt water and dried in the sun until its inside turns dark.¹ Also sold as dried lime, black lime, Omani lime or limoo amani, it is a staple souring ingredient around the Persian Gulf and in Iran, where it goes whole into slow-cooked stews or is ground and stirred into rice.¹² This page covers how it is made, what it tastes like, which lime it comes from, and how to cook with it.

At a glance

How loomi is made

Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages describe the process in countries bordering the Persian Gulf: ripe limes are boiled in salt water and dried in the sun until their interior turns dark.¹ Saveur likewise describes harvested fruit that has been boiled in brine and then sun-dried.² A 2021 study of lime drying notes that limes in Oman are still dried by traditional open-air sun drying, which takes 25 to 35 days there.⁴

The finished limes range in color from parchment brown to charcoal, which is where the name black lime comes from.² For powder, the dried limes are broken open, seeded and ground.²

A widely repeated story says loomi began as limes left on the tree until they dried. No source for it could be found.

Which lime?

Katzer lists the lime on his page as Citrus aurantifolia, but for dried limes he says only “ripe limes” and names no variety.¹ Kew’s Plants of the World Online treats that name as the hybrid Citrus × aurantiifolia, a cultigen from the eastern Himalaya.⁵ The claim that loomi is usually made from Persian limes, or that the Persian lime comes from Iran, could not be traced to any source.

Katzer adds that the lime, unlike the more subtropical lemon, needs a tropical climate, and that it probably comes from Southeast Asia, where many related species grow wild.¹ Kew’s “eastern Himalaya” and Katzer’s “Southeast Asia” do not quite agree; both are given here.

Flavor and aroma

Saveur calls the flavor “at once sour and musky.”² The Cook’s Illustrated editors describe the fermented complexity dried limes bring to soups and stews, and a musty, earthy note.³ Katzer says they give a distinct citrus smell and a sour tang.¹ To us loomi tastes like lime juice with the brightness turned down and a dark, slightly bitter, almost smoky depth added; that description is ours. No study of loomi’s aroma compounds was found.

How loomi is used

• Whole, in stews. Katzer says whole limes are crushed or pierced with a skewer and added to slow-simmering foods, giving legumes and meat dishes a citrus smell and sour tang.¹ Saveur suggests a few pricks with a knife so the cooking liquid can get into the fruit.²
• In rice. Katzer gives majboos, an aromatic rice dish of the Gulf States, as an example, and notes that powdered loomi flavors rice in Iran and northern India, best with long-grain basmati.¹ Saveur’s example is a shrimp and rice pilaf.²
• With seafood. The Cook’s Illustrated editors suggest grating the zest of dried limes over finished fish and shrimp.³
• As tea. Dried limes are often steeped in water on their own to make a fragrant tea.³

Saveur suggests paler limes for lighter-colored dishes and black ones for darker stews.² As a cook’s judgment, ground loomi can also brighten a spice rub or stand in for lemon zest in a lemon pepper blend.

Technique

Common practice is to taste as the dish cooks and remove the whole lime before serving. Many cooks also seed the limes before grinding, as Saveur describes for commercial powder;² the idea that the seeds add bitterness is widespread but was not confirmed by any source we opened.

Buying and quality

No grading standard for dried limes was found. Whole limes should feel light and hard, with no mold inside when cracked; color varies naturally from tan to black.² That is kitchen judgment, apart from the color range.

Storage

We found no published shelf-life figure for dried limes. Whole limes are commonly kept in an airtight jar away from light, and grinding just before use keeps the aroma fresher.

Health claims

Claims that loomi helps prevent diabetes, cancer or heart disease, or is a meaningful source of potassium, pectin or folate, could not be traced to research on dried limes. No human research on loomi itself was found, and this page makes no health claims for it.

Substitutes and comparisons

sumac is the closest stand-in for ground loomi as a sour finishing powder, and lime zest plus a little juice can approximate the citrus side. See loomi substitutes for the ranked list. Related pages: kaffir lime leaves, mango powder, kokum and the list of herbs and spices.