I am just curious. Have you ever heard of this procedure?

How to Make Preserved Lemons

"Note:
You can add spices to the lemons for preserving - cloves, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, bay leaf."

A link that might be useful:

simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_preserved_lemons/

Here is my recipe. It is spicy and it can be an acquired taste if you are not used to spicy foods. It is usually eaten in small quantities with plain yogurt which works wonderfully to cool the palate.

Ingredients:

Lemons - 20
Salt as required - about half a cup as it is the salt that acts as a preservative
Turmeric Powder - 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 3/4th cup
fenugreek seeds - 5 teaspoons
Oil - 1 cup. I use raw sesame oil
Mustard seeds - 3 teaspoons
Asafoetida powder - 1 teaspoon

Method:

Cut the lemon into 8 parts and trasfer it to a large dry porcelin jar/glass jar. I use a pyrex with a lid. After cutting 4 lemons, add salt to coat the cut lemons.Repeat this process until all the lemons are cut. Mix in turmeric powder and keep the dish closed in the refigerator. Mix the lemons once everyday for one week to 10 days. If the salt is less the lemons will begin to spoil and decay or develop fungus. After this period the lemon will become soft.
Dry roast the fenugreek seeds and grind it. Mix red chilli powder and ground fenugreek to the salted lemon. Heat the oil till smoking and turn off the heat. Then, add the mustard seeds and asafoetida power and keep it aside until the oil comes to room temperature. Keep the lid on or use a splatter screen as the mustard seeds will pop as soon as it hits the hot oil. Turn off the heat and let cool. Gently mix the spiced oil to the lemon mixture. Once completely cool, pack in clean jar and keep it closed. This can be stored in room temperature or in the fridge. Be cautious not to get the pickle in contact with water. Use only clean dry spoon to scoop the pickle.