South Asian pickles, known as achar among other names, are pickled and often highly-spiced condiments made from a variety of vegetables and fruits preserved in brine, vinegar, edible oils, and South Asian spices. The pickles are popular across South Asia, with many regional variants. They accompany many main dishes. Since the Columbian exchange, which brought chili peppers to India, pickles have often been hotly-spiced.
In Hindi and several other South Asian languages, pickles are known as āchār (अचार or आचार).[1] Early Sanskrit and Tamil literature uses the terms Avalehika, Upadamzam, Sandhita, and Avaleha.[2]
Āchār is a Persian loanword, from the time of the Mughal Empire. However, pickles in India are quite unlike the vinegar-based pickles of the Middle East.[3] In Persian, the word āchār is defined as "powdered or salted meats, pickles, or fruits, preserved in salt, vinegar, honey, or syrup".[1]
In the 18th century, Georg Eberhard Rumphius suggested that the Indian word achar came from America,[4] specifically Arawakan (of the Caribbean)[5]axi, achi, "chili pepper", widely used in pickles.[4] The 1886 Anglo-Indian dictionary Hobson-Jobson suggests a derivation from Latin acetaria.[4]
Early pickle recipes in Ayurvedic and Sangam period texts mention several varieties of pickles, including the earliest known mention of mango pickles.[2]Nalachampu, a Sanskrit epic written by Trivikrama Bhatta in 915 CE, describes pickles made from green mango, green peppercorns, long pepper, raw cardamom, lemon, lime, myrobalan, hog plum, stone apple, and fragrant manjack.[6] Early medieval cookbooks such as Lokopakara (1025 CE), Manasollasa (1130 CE), Pakadarpana (1200 CE), and Soopa Shastra (1508 CE), and Kshemakutuhala (1549 CE) mentions pickle recipes that use green mango, green peppercorns, longpepper, lemons and limes, turmeric root, mango-ginger root, ginger, radish, bitter gourd, cucumber, lotus root, and bamboo shoots. The religious text Lingapurana by Gurulinga Desika (1594 CE) mentions more than fifty kinds of pickles.[7] Unique pickles made from edible flowers are also mentioned in the Ni'matnama (1500 CE) cookbook.[8]
Anglo-Indians during the British Raj greatly liked chutneys and pickles, and prepared many kinds. For the pickled varieties, vegetables such as aubergines and bell peppers may be packed with chilies, mustard seed, and turmeric to give them a strong flavour; these may be cooked in mustard oil or sesame oil. Some fruits are prepared by pickling, soaking mangoes and limes in salty water in a pot which is left in the sun. For the sweet chutneys, fruits such as mango are cooked with sugar, vinegar, and spices. Uncooked chutneys use ingredients such as green coriander leaves and coconut, flavoured with chili, tamarind, and sugar; these are prepared afresh each day.[11]
In the 17th century, in the time of the East India Company, British travellers to India noticed the many chutneys and pickles. Sailors found that the preserve-like varieties were useful accompaniments to their maritime diet of salt meat and dry ship's biscuit. Quantities were brought home to Britain, whether by individual travellers or by merchants, soon to be copied by cooks and further modified from the Indian originals.[12]
One of those cooks, Hannah Glasse, described how "to make Paco-Lilla, or India Pickle" (piccalilli) in the 1758 edition of her book The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. Her recipe asked the cook to salt some ginger, long pepper, and garlic, and to spice vinegar with mustard seed and turmeric. She suggested that vegetables and fruits such as cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, melon, apple, french beans, and plums could all be pickled in this way.[13]
Ingredients
In India, there are two main types of pickles: pickles made with sesame or mustard oil, and pickles made without oil. Pickles without oil use salt to draw out the moisture from green mangoes or lemons to create a brine. A mixture of lemon or lime juice with salt or traditional ganne ka sirka (sugarcane vinegar) may also be used as brine.[3] Some pickles such as those from Gujarat use jaggery sugar as the main preserve.[14]
Homemade pickles are prepared in the summer. They are matured through exposure to sunlight for up to two weeks.[15] The pickle is traditionally covered with muslin while it is maturing.[16] Chili peppers are a distinguishing ingredient in South Asian pickles.[17]
Indian mixed pickle, with lotus root, lemon, carrot, green mango, and green chilis
Achar gosht, a meat curry cooked with flavours from pickle
In Bengali culture, pickles are known as Achar (Bengali: আচার) or Asar (Bengali: আসার). They are an integral part of Bengali cuisine, adding flavours to meals. They are made by preserving various fruits, vegetables, and even fish or meat in a mixture of spices, oil, and vinegar or lemon juice. The process involves marinating the chosen ingredient with a blend of spices such as mustard seeds, fenugreek, nigella seeds, and chili powder. The pickles are then left to mature in airtight jars, allowing the flavours to develop over time.[18]
Bengali pickles have tangy, spicy, and sometimes sweet taste profiles. They are often served as accompaniments to rice, bread, or curry. Popular varieties include mango, lime, mixed vegetable, and fish pickles. The Shatkoraachar of Sylhet and Chui jhalachar of Khulna are known even outside India and Bangladesh.[19]
The city of Panipat in Haryana prepares achaar commercially, especially pachranga and satranga (literally "five/seven colours", prepared with that many vegetables). The vegetables are matured in mustard oil and whole spices with ingredients like raw mangoes, chickpeas, lotus stem, karonda, myrobalan, and limes. As of 2016, Panipat produced over ₹500 million (equivalent to ₹720millionorUS$8.5million in 2023) worth of achaar every year, supplied to local markets and exported to the UK, US, and Middle East.[20][21][22]
The Burmese word for pickle is thanat (Burmese: သနပ်). Mango pickle (သရက်သီးသနပ်) (thayet thi thanat) is the most prevalent variety. The pickle is made with green, ripe, or dried mangoes cured in vinegar, sugar, salt, chili powder, masala, garlic, fresh chilies, and mustard seeds.[23][24] Mango pickle is commonly used as a condiment alongside curries and biryani in Burmese cuisine.[25] It is a mainstay ingredient in a Burmese curry, wet thanat hin (ဝက်သနပ်ဟင်း), that combines pork belly with the pickle.[26]
Nepal
In Nepal, achaar (Nepali: अचार) is commonly eaten with the staple dal-bhat-tarkari as well as momo.[27] Many achaar factories in Nepal are women-owned or operated by women.[28][29]
Nepali pickle made of Dalle Khursani (round chilies) and Tama (fermented bamboo shoot pickle)
The Sindh province of modern-day Pakistan is noted for its Shikrarpuri and Hyderabadi pickles. Both of these achaar varieties are commonly eaten in Pakistan and abroad.[30] Shikrarpuri pickle is believed to have originated during the 1600s in medieval India.[30] The most popular Shikarpuri achaar is a mixed pickle made of carrots, turnips, onions, cauliflower, chickpeas, garlic, green chillies, lime, and mango.[30] Another pickle is made from fragrant manjack fruits.[31]
In Sri Lanka, green ginger, onion, and chilies are salted and flavoured with garlic, mustard seed, and vinegar. Other spices and sugar may be added. Either vegetables or fruits such as the Ceylon olive (veralu) or the hog plum (amberalla) may be used.[32]
In South Africa and Botswana, Indian pickles are called atchar. They are made primarily from unripe mangoes and are sometimes eaten with bread.[36][37]
On Mauritius and Réunion a local variation is called Achard de légumes in French or Zasar legim in Mauritian Creole. It is prepared with a mixture of vegetables like cabbage, carrots, green beans, chayote, palm heart and onions. This is spiced with cumin, turmeric, green chilies, red chilies, ginger, garlic, salt and vinegar.[38]
See also
Branston Pickle– British food brand known for its pickled chutneyPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
1 2 3 Achaya, K. T. (2003). The Story of Our Food. Universities Press (India) Private. ISBN978-8173718359.
1 2 Madani, Mohsen Saeidi (1993). Impact of Hindu Culture on Muslims. M.D. Publications. pp.153–. ISBN978-81-85880-15-0. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2019. But in the Arab countries, Iran, and Afghanistan, grapes and palm are abundant, so vinegar is made out of them and the achaar in these countries is made by dipping onion, fruits etc. in vinegar.
↑ "Pickled Vegetables"(PDF). Practical Action - The Schumacher Centre for Technology and Development. Archived from the original(PDF) on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
↑ "Pickled Vegetables". Practical Action. 2011. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
Paralkar, Anil (2020). "Trade, Exoticism and the English Appropriation of South Asian Pickles, c. 1600–1750". Cultural History. 9 (1): 106–122. doi:10.3366/cult.2020.0211. S2CID216172922.
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