Achar
From Freepedia
Achar (also written as "Achaar") is the Hindi word for the pickle. Indian pickles are very salty and spicy.
This word is used to refer Indian-style spicy pickles from cuisines throughout southern and south-east Asia, and in many other areas among ethnically south Asian communities. It is usually made with a mixture of fruits and vegetables which are chopped and marinated in a very spicy - often curry-based - sauce. Almost all sorts of fruits vegetables found in south Asia are pickled in this manner, including pumpkins, palm hearts, mango slices, limes and rose petals, along with vegetables more conventionally pickled in the west.
This word has also been borrowed by other Indian languages to mean the same thing.
However, these languages may have their own words for pickle. For instance, in Malayalam there are several words for pickle:
- Uppillittuthu - literally, "that which is put in salt"; generic term for pickle
- Maangaacurry - literally, "curry of mango"; term for lemon pickle.
- Ingicurry - literally, "curry of ginger"; term for ginger pickle
Each type of pickle is usually given their own name in Malayalam. The closest term in Malayalam for "pickle" is "uppillittuthu".
References
- Achar in Larousse Gastronomique, US edition. ISBN 0-517-57032-7
