Paintings made from paan are ubiquitous in India! This is seen on public transport such as trains, buses, bridges, walls on the streets, buildings, pavements, electric poles, and virtually everywhere.
Paan has been and is an important part of Indian culture. The small paan shops are places wherein people gather and discuss daily happenings, economics, politics, and even gossip over paan. It is often eaten after meals in most Indian households and also serves as a mouth freshener.
Preparation of Paan
As soon as a paanwaala (seller of paan) is asked to prepare paan for a customer, the paanwaala wastes no time and begins working wherein a large number of different sachets are hung to get the variety of ingredients that go into the betel leaf.
The heart-shaped betel leaf is coated with slaked lime and the astringent, chocolate-brown herb kattha. Following this the fragrant flavors – cardamom, clove, mace, nutmeg, camphor, areca nut, fennel seeds, dried fruits, coconut powder, and gulkand (dried rose petals dipped in sugar syrup) are added to it. And finally, the paan (betel leaf) is then folded into a neat triangle, fastened or fixed with clove, and its ready to be delivered into the hands of the customer.
Its Different Names
This treat is known by different names in the country and millions of Indians chew it every day. Why do people enjoy eating it? It has a sharp taste and an appetizing flavor. Furthermore, it also serves as an excellent mouth freshener or post-meal treat which is why it is commonly found in Indian households.
The betel leaf is known by many Indian names like tambul, tamalapaku, nagavalli, nagarbel and the Portuguese named it ‘betel’ (which is derived from the Malayalam and Tamil word ‘vettile’).
Image via India.com
What Do Ancient Texts Say About Paan?
According to the South China Morning Post’s article “Ancient texts mention how the betel leaf’s different parts represent different Hindu deities: Lakshmi in front, Shiva around the edges, and Yama – the Lord of Death – residing in the stalk, the unfavorable part, to be shunned.”
“In the story of Samudra Manthan, the churning of the ocean by Gods and Demons in search of Amrit, the nectar of immortality, the betel leaf was one of the many celestial objects that were discovered,” said scholar and priest Ram Keshav. “The holy leaf also finds mentions in epics like Mahabharata, the Bhagavata Purana, and the Vishnu Purana, which is how it acquired primacy in religious ceremonies,” explains the priest.
Keshav says, “according to Hindu mythology, a betel leaf garland was offered to Hanuman, a monkey god, by a Goddess when he conveyed to her that all was well with her husband.”
The Origins of Betel
Piper betel is a vine of Southeast Asian origin that bears neither flowers nor fruit. Today, it is found in markets across Asia as well as Africa. India grows nearly forty varieties out of the nearly hundred cultivated worldwide as chewing paan is not only popular in India but also across Southeast Asia.
It is used from Thailand to the Philippines to Vietnam. Skulls from 3000 BC in the Philippines show betel-stained red teeth. This proves that paan chewing was not rare as the red color (on the stained teeth) comes from the slaked lime.
Image via Karnataka.com | Paan Seller. Image courtesy Subhadip Mukherjee
The Different Uses of Paan
Not only are the spat out “paintings” of paan ubiquitous but also the leaf is highly important to the country from its mention in pop culture. It is also given to teachers to seek blessings and is used prolifically in traditional medicine such as Ayurveda.
In India’s northeastern state – Assam, paan and betel nuts are offered to guests along with wedding invitation cards, while priests are given a betel nut along with a coin placed on the leaf as a mark of respect. Paan, which is also known as green gold, comes from the Piper betel, and brides in West Bengal, India, enter the marriage venue holding the betel leaves in such a way that it covers their face.
From royals to commoners, many are obsessed with it, its pleasure, and the health benefits it offers. The making of paan or beeda is considered a great skill (hence the idiom “beeda uthana” which means taking the lead or responsibility for a task/challenge). The preparation includes trimming the leaf, smearing it with earthy slaked lime as well as herbs, and topping it with colorful ingredients then skillfully folding it.
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Paan is not only sold at the small stores but sada paan (plain paan) and meetha paan [sweet paan with gulkand]are also offered at restaurants post-meals. Moreover, paan shots are being served at a bar in the Radisson Hotel in Noida in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Over the years, paan has gone from being a stand-alone offering to being an ingredient that is included in a variety of food (chaat) to desserts such as kulfis, ice creams, and beverages like cocktails, mocktails, lattes, chai, margaritas, and more! Today there are different flavors of paan, for example – ‘Dry Fruit Meetha Paan’, ‘Milk/ Dark Chocolate Coated Paan’, ‘Blueberry Meetha Paan’, and more!
Not only is paan popular as something you can chew on but references have been made to it even in Bollywood songs. For example, when Amitabh Bachchan sang about benarasi paan in his 1978 blockbuster hit ‘Don’ and King Khan – SRK in the 2006 film ‘Don’!
They are grown by taking a lot of care as they are “stored in bamboo baskets, kept in the dark and treated with smoke for three days, the cured leaves lend a melt-in-the-mouth quality” and “they last three to five days in summer and about seven days in winter”. “Too much water spoils it and too little dries it”.
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According to food historian and author Dr. Pushpesh Pant, “the maghai paan is considered exclusive because its delicate leaves grow only during four months in a year and are cultivated selectively only in Bihar (a state in eastern India), as opposed to desi patta which grows more abundantly.”
Each family has its own recipe for preparing paan and they add their own spin or a unique touch to it whether it has to do with its ingredients/contents or its presentation/folding of the betel leaf.
Image via Zomato | The Betel Leaf Co.
“Spittoons – for saliva generated because of the chewing – were often works of art crafted from silver and embellished with intricate designs,” Pant says.
The betel leaf has also received some stardom as in central Delhi, Pandey’s Paan Shop holds the unique distinction of treating former Indian presidents, prime ministers, and state guests with his paan which includes three US presidents, including Barack Obama.
Pandey says he provides “fifty types of paan – from the plain to giant baroque confections brimming with more than thirty ingredients.” “Flavours range from butterscotch to kiwi, piña colada, blackberry, raspberry, walnut, hazelnut, and chocolate. In a nod to diabetics, there’s diet paan as well, where sugary gulkand is replaced by sucrose – a sugar found in plants.”
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“The betel leaf is a trove of health benefits. It contains micronutrients such as thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, and carotene, and is also a great source of calcium which is why we recommend it for lactating mothers. Eating betel leaf regularly helps in balancing vata and kapha doshas [regulating forces of nature]of the human body,” says Ved Shastri, an Ayurvedic doctor from Delhi.
“Earlier, water was not a problem but now, with plummeting water tables, water is not available year-round and has become very expensive,” says the third-generation paan farmer – Prakash Chaurasia. Chaurasia is a smallholder farmer from the Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh, a paan growing belt, who added: “I’m not sure how long I can continue with my family profession. I’m planning to diversify into growing vegetables and herbs as well to earn better profits.”
Featured image adapted from Parenting First Cry.
