Paan

Paan plays a key role in the complex web of South-east Asian social etiquette. A polite refusal may prompt much speculation over one's state of health and arouse suspicion, over-induglence may hint at Bombay underground criminal connections and moderation cannot be maintained and is simply not an option.

"What is paan?" I hear you cry. I'll allow Salvatore DeTraglia of Taxicab Confessions to answer:

As the ultimate post-meal chaser, many dabhas offer (and some will even make to order) sweet paan. Sweet paan is made by layering (with a spoon, pen or any other readily available utensil) lime paste, gulkand (crushed rose petals in sugar syrup), chopped betel nuts, cardamom and anise seeds, crystallized sugar, cloves and shredded coconut on a fresh betel leaf. The leaf is then tightly folded into a plump triangular package, popped into the mouth and chewed whole. The sensation is unique to anything that western taste buds are likely to have experienced. It is a juicy explosion of layer upon layer of distinct, intense and contrasting flavors and textures—sweet, savory, moist, dry, soft, crunchy, smooth, rough, cool, hot. Sweet paan is the ultimate embodiment of a "love it or hate it" food experience.

Sensory attributes aside, sweet paan has a practical function. Its ingredients are ingeniously engineered to cleanse the palate, freshen breath and aid digestion after a rich, heady meal. But be careful to specify sweet paan when ordering, because paan comes in a tobacco-filled version as well. Although the tobacco paan will also certainly "cleanse" the palate and neutralize the spice residue from one's breath, its properties as a digestif leave something to be desired.

The combinations and permutations are endless: Calcutta leaves, Banarsi leaves, Maggai leaves, sweet, savoury, tobacco etc etc. Check out Benjamin Feen's step-by-step photographic guide on preparing a paan.

However, (ab)use of the areca nut (a common ingredient in paan) is associated with oral cancer amongst other serious risks, as reported in the British Medical Journal:

Areca nut is the seed of the fruit of the oriental palm, Areca catechu. It is the basic ingredient of a variety of widely used chewed products. Thin slices of the nut, either natural or processed, may be mixed with a variety of substances including slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) and spices such as cardamom, coconut, and saffron. Most significantly, they may be mixed with tobacco products or wrapped in the leaf of the piper betel plant. Hence the more common name betel nut. Areca nut is used by an estimated 200-400 million people, mainly IndoAsians and Chinese. It is used by men and women. In some societies the latter predominate. All age groups and social classes use the product. Areca nut has a long history of use and is deeply ingrained in many sociocultural and religious activities.

Of particular interest in the United Kingdom, and perhaps other developed countries, is that use of areca nut continues and is often enhanced following migration. Thus British Asians have brought the use of areca from India (some via East Africa), Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other countries in the region and its use is thus firmly culturally bound. From the medical point of view, the most important consideration is the relation between areca nut use and the development of mouth cancer (oral squamous cell carcinoma) and its precursors leukoplakia and submucous fibrosis.

Historically a betel quid (paan) was often formulated to an individual's wishes but in the United Kingdom and other countries readymade packets of these products are now available as a proprietary mixture known as paan masala. There is increasing evidence that areca products induce a true dependency syndrome. A recent study of Gujarati areca users in north west London assessed their degree of dependency as equivalent to that of cocaine users especially if there is tobacco in the paan masala. Patients describe typical dependency symptoms, with difficulty in abstaining, withdrawal symptoms including headache and sweating, and need for a morning paan to relieve these symptoms. Individuals report queuing outside the paan shops waiting for them to open and continuing sequential use, analogous to chain smoking.

My encounter with authentic paan-making is encapsulated in this photograph from a trip to Delhi in 2003. I literally almost stumbled over this chap in the chaos of Old Delhi. He was selling leaves to paan makers. It was only as I left that I realised his prosthetic leg was tucked neatly behind him so as not to encroach on his shop floor!

The One-Legged Paan Seller, Old Delhi, India ©Tauseef Mehrali 2003