By Tara Narayan

Most of India likes a paan or two on occasion…with and without areca nut and tobacco! But the non-toxic paan come in a wonderful avatar…strawberry paan, chocolate paan, cherry pop paan, ever heard of gulkand paan?

IF you’re an Indian you will eat a betel leaf or paan some time or another! It’s a treat like no other and also an addiction like no other. It’s not just only in Uttar Pradesh where betel leaf paan eating is the refined thing to do post-meals…but in Karnataka, Calcutta now Kolkatta, Maharashtra, Bihar, across India, you will find this friendly, chatty paanwallah parked outside famous up market or infamous down market eateries and restaurants.
And even in Goa almost every mega party will have a live counter doing betel leaf confections. With marriages and birthday parties around the year at the luxury resort hotels, after a rich meal vegetarian and non-vegetarian, guests do a final stopover at the live paanwallah station for a paan – chewing a paan quid is an old traditional Indian habit with cultural moorings across India right up to West Bengal and Assam.
Who doesn’t relish a good Banarasi paan? I do! The paan beeda or quid is a fresh green betel leaf in are tucked an amazing array of goodies, all sealed with a real laung (clove, they’ve become very expensive now, Rs800 to 1,400 kg, but get the organically cultivated ones).
Recently, at a birthday party I got to see how betel leaf paan has metamorphosed into such an exotic affair…from simple paan to complex paan. The simplest will be a fresh green betel leaf with a dash of white lime katha (catechu), and a teaspoon mix of aniseed, cardamom seed, dry date, maybe some areca nut shavings or nuggets hard, soft, minted…all bundled up into seductive triangular leafy offering. Voila, paan! Very pretty, very seductive, many get seduced and at parties it’s a post-prandial treat like no other.
FORGET ice-creams, that’s for children! Adults go for the paan beeda, quid, parcel which many in the know will say is ancient India’s antioxidant, anti-flatulence digestive bon bon…of course, paan chewing can slip into undesirable deadly addiction for the classes and masses in state after state, and then we hear the data on oral cancers and some more cancers. But I’m talking deadly cancerous tobacco and areca nut laced paan here.
Paan can be so innocent with a pure heart. To make it simple, it may have a bit of rose petal jam called gulkhand wrapped in it…or maybe a digestive mix of seeds, spices, known for their goodness. Paan in this category is not a troublemaker. Enjoy!
Of course in some cases paan chewing is perceived as a narcotic habit. In the old days, remember in Guru Dutt’s film “Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam” — the wealthy landed gentry was hooked on paan chewing, alcohol and nautch girls for entertainment after dark. This is a powerful destructive combination but I dare say it’s gone with the wind, or has it in some states?

Apart from all that don’t knock the lovely heart shaped betel leaf – it’s good, a green beauty, eat a betel leaf a day for all kinds of good things to happen like radiant complexion and strong hair! The tannin in the leaf may leave your mouth reddened and scented, one reason why upper crust folk took to paan chewing for oral aromatic refreshment.
AT this grand birthday party I went to at the Taj Exotica down south Goa, last week, post-diner final touch was the paan service courtesy Mahesh Chand Gond’s Shri Harilal Banarasi Panwala – they do paan services for weddings, birthday parties, openings, etc. Find one of their betel leaf services parked outside on the pavement outside Hotel Kamat’s at Church Square down town Panjim. It’s a years old landmark and sometimes I pick up a betel leaf from here to chew on! Not wanting to buy a whole bundle of betel leaves.
At the Taj Exotica where my party was they presented some real fancy paan beeda or quids (chews) and all styles were on extravagant display – plain green, chocolate coated, studded with grated coconut and candied cherries, etc. Take your pick from the tempting display (see pics elsewhere here.) There are many kinds of betel leaf presentations but the I like the plain Banarasi one the most, also the gulkand one. Gulkand you must know is traditional rose petal-parval (wax gourd) jam said to be very cooling for summer time. Eat as tonic food and live to be happy.

Oh yes, whenever I’ve eaten a paan, I must confess my digestive juices flow better…betel leaf enjoys the properties of being carminative, anti-flatulent, gut protective. A bit of homework tells me chewing a betel leaf improves metabolism, triggers circulation, stimulates intestines to better absorb nutrients after a meal. That’s why a paan is a post-meal offering at the best restaurants; in fact, in Mumbai and Delhi the best eateries will have their own paanwallah set-up in or out of the premises.
A word of warning though! In a recent report it was found that betel leaves if not fresh and kept for long in unsanitary conditions, may harbor salmonella pathogens, likewise with curry leaves and ladies fingers…there is also the fear of pesticides! Sorry, to be a kill-joy but this is just by way of some caution you must exercise, when you take to things which beguile the palate and imagination for a myriad reasons habitual to the romantic.
Best of all grow your own betel leaf vine in your garden. It’s the prettiest, greenest of leaf and there’s so much lore attached to it in our literature and filmi music, count the films in which the betel leaf quid plays an adventurous role!

TO move on to something else here’s some good news. I’ve got a message from OMO, the popular store for organic veggies, fruit, groceries and other interesting things at Fontainas that they’re now stocking gluten free organic roti made from 90% jowar (sorghum) flour and 10% soya flour, Rs130 for six roti. Warm up and eat, smile! Also, opposite the main Mongini’s outlet (where the BJP offices are located at down Atmaram Borkar road) there is the familiar Goan Sweets outlet, which stocks goodies made by self-help group women and amongst these is freshly made jowar and nachne phulka (Rs30 for four pieces), I find these very good. Go get if you want! Say hello to Praveen Shirodkar here (his mobile number is 9890534433). You will also find a whole host of quintessentially Goan snacks here including pickles and papad.