Paan-a-presentation

Paan has been witnessing a new wave of contemporary popularity. From neighbourhood shops selling paan dipped in chocolate to presenting them as dessert with a topping of edible silver leaf or varak, today there are several delicious and healthy innovations. Among the new-age paan initiatives, a start-up has been making news. Bengaluru-based The Betel Leaf Co. (TBLC) claims to be India's first FSSAIcertified online paan delivery company and is aiming to reinvent how we consume paan. The company says "it offers paan in 45 flavours, and ensures all its products are tobacco-free and uniform in quality and taste”.

The brand was born when its founder and CEO Prem Raheja was advised by his nutritionist to try chewing paan to reduce bloating after meals. Among its wide offerings, you can taste Seed Delight Paan, Honey Crunch Paan, Blueberry Meetha Paan, Exotic Coffee Paan, Bourbon Whiskey Paan and Mexican Chili Chocolate Coated Paan! They also have betel infused products such as tea, ice-creams, chocolate bars, and dry paan. Betel Delight is a paan-infused date chocolate.

Paan is cultivated across India. Traditionally, the leaves are stored in bamboo baskets, kept in the dark and cured with smoke. Too much water spoils them and too little dries them.

Be tel is an aromatic creeper, and you can easily grow it as an ornamental plant in your home.

It's said the P ortuguese coined the name betel, from the Indian word ' vettile'.

E xperts say paan has originated from the Sanskrit word parna, which means 'leaf'.

Art of paan

It also has had a deep influence on culture, craft and traditions of India. The heart-shaped paan motif is common in Indian textiles. Jewellery too often draws inspiration from the shape, and so does a host of accessories - the embroidered batwa (small bag) to carry the paandan (box for paan leaves), a sarota (areca nut cutter) and pikdaan (a vessel to spit after chewing paan). In former royal households, a person trained in the art of making paan would be in charge of the elaborate and artistic process. Each family had a unique recipe. Some would boil the areca nut in milk, while others soaked it in rose water. Ingredients were kept secret and so were paan-folding techniques! Ingredients to prepare the paan could range from cardamom, clove, mace, nutmeg, camphor, fennel seeds, dried fruits, coconut powder, khoya (thickened milk) or gulkand (dried rose petals in sugar syrup). In South India, a rice dish cooked with betel leaf and garlic, vetrilai sadam, is very popular.

Health in a leaf

Wellness traditions consider paan to be important for health - as a mouth freshener and digestive. Dr. Avni Kaul, a nutritionist, says, "Betel leaves provide vitamin C, thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, carotene and calcium. Chewing paan after a meal increases the metabolic rate of the body.” As per Acharya Venu Saraswat, an Ayurvedic practitioner based in Varanasi, "Chewing paan reduces medha dhatu (body fat) and increases the metabolic rate of the body. But it ought to be combined with the right natural ingredients."

With inputs fromAarti Kapur Singh

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