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South Asian pickle is a pickled food made from a variety of vegetables, meats and fruits preserved in brine, vinegar, edible oils, and various South Asian spices. The pickles are popular across South Asia, with many regional variants, natively known as lonache, avalehikā, uppinakaayi, khatai, pachadi or noncha, achaar , athāṇu or athāṇo or athāna, khaṭāī or khaṭāin, sandhan or sendhan or sāṇdhāṇo, kasundi, or urugaai.
The etymology for pickles in South Asia varies regionally. The pickles are known as Uppinakaayi in Kannada, Pachchadi, Tokku, or Ūragāya in Telugu, Oorugaai in Tamil, Uppillittuthu in Malayalam, Loncha in Marathi, Lonchem in Konkani, Athāṇu in Gujarati, Athāṇo in Rajasthani & Braj, Sendhān or Sandhān in Awadhi, Bagheli & Bhojpuri,Khaṭāiṇ & Sāndhaṇo in Sindhi, Kasundi in Bangla & Odia. In Hindi, native words for pickle which are rooted in Sanskrit are: Athāna, Noncha, Sendhān and Khaṭaī. Another term Achaar is also used in Hindi, Nepali, Urdu and Bengali. Early Sanskrit and Tamil literature uses the terms Avalehika, Upadamzam, Sandhita, and Avaleha for pickles.
In Hindustani, an additional word Āchār, is used for pickles, along with other native Hindi words. Āchār is a loanword of Persian origin, entered popular use as the Hindustani term for pickles under Islamic rule. However, pickles in India are totally different from vinegar-based pickles in the Middle East. In Persian, the word āchār is defined as "powdered or salted meats, pickles, or fruits, preserved in salt, vinegar, honey, or syrup".