A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c46.21

v3.c46.21

The date of composition of the Pākadarpaṇa remains undetermined. The quotations from Nala are of no avail because they cannot be traced in the printed text.⁴⁹ The earliest author to refer to some work on cookery by Nala is Cakrapāṇidatta. Some names of plants may point to a period not earlier than about A.D. 1200.⁵⁰ Since chilli is absent from the Pākadarpaṇa, it dates probably from before the introduction of this type of pepper into India in the seventeenth century.⁵¹