Pickle aka Achar is a part of the diet of every Indian family and everyone has beautiful memories of their grandparents relating to it. In India, if a married woman craves for the pickle is taken as pregnant as it is to believe that in pregnancy period a girl likes to eat the pickle or a substance sour in nature, a lot. There would have been hardly any Indian family who did not use pickle or made it at home. Have you ever thought while having a pickle as to where it originated from and how it became the part of Indian kitchen!!! Is there any history of Pickles??? The answer is yes. It is a history of around thousands of years back, dating as far back as 2030 BC.
Name in origin (Etymology)
The word “pickle” comes from a Dutch word ‘pekel’ or northern German ‘pókel’ meaning “salt” or “brine,”. These two components are the essential credentials in the process of pickling. Pickles go through the process of Pickling in which with this preserving or expanding the lifespan of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar.
History of pickle
Pickle is having a history of thousands of years as it began at 4000 years ago in India. Pickling was very useful way to preserve non-seasonal food which could be used for a long journey especially by sea (for sailors and travelers). Meat, vegetables, and fruits are used for making pickles. It is said that Columbus and his team while on his voyage of discovery got victuals, food provisions, fruits vegetables and meats of the pickled variety to survive during a journey.
Process of pickling
Pickling is the process of making pickle. It is the process to preserve the perishable food like vegetables meats and fruits for a long duration. It is believed that the technique of pickling was originated from India and cucumber natives of Tigris valley have searched this. As it is believed that cucumbers were the first food that was picked and eaten. Salt, brine, lemon and vinegar were the basic ingredient to this.
Here is the basic technique of making pickle.
First, to collect all the vegetables or fruit and cut those into pieces as you require.
Then making it dry first with the heat from the Sun or for some vegetables we need to fry. For this a few vegetables require days and a few require hours only.
Mix the material with salt, sugar, vinegar or lemon juice or vegetable oil. You can add herbs, spices, mustard seed, garlic, cinnamon or cloves and chilly also.
Mix all the substances thoroughly and put this mixture in the jar and let it be kept in sun heat and use when you want it when it is got to be ripe after a few days.
Pickling is the process through which we can preserve the food for years or up to almost 5,000 years. Pickles also increase the nutritious value of the food by good bacteria with introducing vitamin B which inhibits the growth of harmful microbes in the intestines. This is the best source of vitamin C also which help us to absorb iron better. Foods that are pickled include meats, fruits, eggs, and vegetables. Amongst a number of families it is a complete substitute of a variety of recipes.
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