According to Hobson-Jobson: The Definitive Glossary of British India , the word ‘ āchār’ finds a mention in CE 1563, in works by Garcia da Orta, a Portuguese physician, describing a conserve of cashew with salt which he refers to as ‘and this they call Āchār.’ In his book A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food , the late food historian KT Achaya notes that pickles fall into the category of ‘cooking without fire’; however, many pickles today do use heating or fire to some extent during preparation. Pickles in India have a rich legacy, which is clear when the historian further adds that a ‘Kannada work of CE 1594, the Lingapurana of Gurulinga Desika describes no less than fifty kinds of pickles’! Another later mention is found in the 17th-century Śivatattvaratnākara , an encyclopedia of ancient Indian lore of Basavarāja, King of Keladi. Pickles in India are of three basic types: those preserved in vinegar; those preserved in salt; and those preserved in oil. Go...
From outside, it looks fairly ordinary, but wait till you get inside.
(Part II would follow soon)
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