Making
pickles has been considered as one of the oldest methods of preservation of
essential foods in the world designed especially for seasons of scarcity. Pickles
of different types are quite popular all over the world since ancient days. Archeologists have suggested that the ancient
Mesopotamians pickled as early as 2400 BC. It has been considered that around
the year 2030 BC, cucumbers were brought from India and
were pickled in the Tigris Valley. The event fostered
a
tradition and technique of pickling in Mid-East which gradually spread to
Europe and eventually to the West.
There are
reports that United States of America alone consumes some 5.2 million pounds
(about 235 Tonnes) of pickle per year. Pickles of cucumber are quite popular
now in Europe and the West. Marinated pickles of gherkin (a variety of dwarf
cucumber) are popular in the list of exports from India.
However in
India pickles of raw Mango are most popular followed by lemon, chilly and many other
varieties of vegetables and greens. Pickled raw mango with chilly-mustard-spice
paste is quite popular in India. The pickle is known as “Achar” in Hindi areas.
We find similar and related word “Achat” in South East Asian countries. In
India currently, spicy pickles made of chilly, spices, mustard and oil are
quite popular. In Karnataka the pickle is known as Uppinakāyi and in coastal Tulu areas it is known as Uppad (‘d’ pronounced as in dog). Other varieties like Avakai in Andhra Pradesh, Tokku in Tamilnadu,
Incidentally, the English word
“pickle” was derived from the Dutch word
‘pekel ‘ or northern German “pókel,” meaning salt (or brine). The salt or the brine (salt
solution) is an important component in the pickling process. Hence, the pickling
or the process of preserving perishable items (vegetables, fish etc) appear to
have been invented in coastal areas that are proximity with sea which contains
rich repository of the brine solution.
Further popularity of pickles also led to the use of vinegar (Acetic acid) and
other sour solutions for the preservation instead of plain brine (Sodium
chloride) solution.
Origin and evolution of UppaD
It can be visualized that in the ancient days
in Tulunadu, the pickles were originally made in a solution of sea water (brine)
and as the time progressed the common salt dissolved in water was used as a
medium of pickling. It was and is known as UppaD
( D pronounced as in English word dog).
In ancient India, only the pepper was a
common ingredient to make dishes ‘hot’ (“khara”
as we call in native languages) in taste.
(It is unfortunate that the English language does not have an equivalent
word exactly to convey the “khara”
taste !) It is an interesting to note that the green and red chillies which are quite ubiquitous in
our Indian dishes were introduced and imported into India only after 15th
Century CE after the advent of Portuguese. Thus the “khara” version of Uppad
which we are familiar now is among us only since last five centuries.
Ancient versions of Uppad
The
Tulu language has preserved specific ancient words for older version of pickles
without chilly. The traditional words existing in rural Tulunadu such as “UppaD-(p)acchir” and “NeeruppaD” clearly identifies the
ancient varieties of pickles in Tulunadu and other regions in the country.
Uppad-achhir (normally marinated pickle of jack fruit avrils/lobes) and Neer-uppad (watery pickle) of raw mango
and a variety of vegetables were quite
popular in rural areas. The Jack fruit (Artocarpus
heterophyllus Lam.) considered to be the worlds’ largest edible compound
fruit, was a favorite ancient fruit in India.
UppaDacchir
The “Uppadacchir” is a pickle of unripe or
moderately ripe jack fruits in brine solution (normally without the addition of
chilly
and spices). The suffix “acchir” in this usage is the
short form of “pacchir” which stands for the avrils (individual
fruity lobes) inside the of jack fruit.
Etymology of Tulu Uppad
In Tulu language “Uppađ” (đ as in English word ‘dog’) is
the equivalent world for the pickle. It would
be interesting to explore the possible origin of the word Uppad especially for the sake of linguistic entertainment. The term
Uppad can be analysed in two ways:
(1) Uppu + ad (2) Uppu + pad.
In the first case ‘ad’ is a known morpheme of Dravidian heritage, which essentially
means to cook or a dish. In the second case ‘pad’ is clearly a word of South East Asian origin or usage which
again means a kind of dish. Since in Southern India (including coastal
Karnataka) there are tangible evidences for imprints of ancient influence of
both Dravidian and Austro-Asiatic cultures it is difficult to conclude at the
outset whether it was Upp-ad or Upp-pad.
Morphemes ad
and pād
The word upp+ad signifies
a dish (‘ađ’) made of salt (‘uppu’).
The Dravidian morpheme “ad” means to
cook, as we find ”adpini” (Tulu) for to cook ; adpil
for kitchen; “ad-til” ( atil) for cooking; adya or adde
for cooked dish. Similarly, in Kannada
“aduge”
or “adige” for cookery etc. On the basis of sheer preponderance of
words containing ad as a component, we can conclude that the etymology of Uppad
is : Upp(u)+ad.
However there is
another possible take in this word: Upp+pad. The ‘pād’ again means a dish
in South East Asian languages. For
example Pad Thai is a popular dish of Thailand which is a sort of stir fried
rice with eggs shrimp etc. Similarly, “Nasi padang” is a rice dish
of Western Sumatra, wherein the native word “nasi
“means the rice and “padang” a dish.
In Tulu Nighantu
(Tulu Lexicon) we can find at least five shades of meaning for the word pād.
Such as (1)to keep or put (2) to sing or song (3) a state or condition (4)
equality or impartiality and (5) the time interval between the arrival of two
successive waves in the beach.
Tulu being an ancient language it has absorbed words from
different tribal languages during the course of its evolution. As a result of
this absorption process phonetically similar sounding words but with different
meanings, originally from different languages have survived and remained in
Tulu.
Pāda
Incidentally, there is a Tulu word known as pāda
which means an oil bearing vessel. This particular usage apparently has
some relation to the Thai word pad
which means a stir fried dish. The process of stir frying basically needs oil.
Pādya
There is special
word possibly connected with this discussion. The Padya refers to the
first day of the lunar fortnight or the day following a new
moon or a full moon day. However, the etymology or origin of this particular word
is not clear.
The day of Padya
is normally associated with celebration or festivity as can be seen in the
idiom padya parba. (For example: Bali-padya). Thus we can assume that pādya traditionally has been a
designated day for preparing special dishes on account of recurring festivities.
R
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