Pan

[Paul B]

Last week I was at Main and 49th, right in the heart of Little India. While my wife was having her eyebrows threaded I walked into Panwalla, a small store on Main just north of 49th. I'd never had pan before but I had read about it for years. The guy behind the counter whipped up two pans for $2.50. I brought them home and tried them: jammed the large stuffed-leaf into the side of my mouth and chewed away. Wild. A real blizzard of flavours but, in the end, a bit too sweet for me. Does anyone know another place that makes them and, perhaps, has more than one kind available?

[merlin]

Paul B.

I am really not all that familiar with Indian food apart from the regular options like curries, naan, tandoori meats and the like.

What is "pan"? I am curious after reading your description.

[therese]

Last week I was at Main and 49th, right in the heart of Little India.  While my wife was having her eyebrows threaded I walked into Panwalla, a small store on Main just north of 49th.  I'd never had pan before but I had read about it for years.  The guy behind the counter whipped up two pans for $2.50.  I brought them home and tried them: jammed the large stuffed-leaf into the side of my mouth and chewed away.  Wild.  A real blizzard of flavours but, in the end, a bit too sweet for me.  Does anyone know another place that makes them and, perhaps, has more than one kind available?

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Since the pan maker (walla) is making them on the spot you can just tell him that you'd like it less sweet and he should be able to accomodate you.

[gus_tatory]

paan is more commonly anglicized with two As, i think. but enjoy it in moderation, because there's a direct link between long-time paan use and oral cancer...

having said that, i have Pakistani friends who remember all the old ladies and their bright-red stained mouths from eating paan. it really does seem to be--perhaps because of class implications, the oral cancer thing, and goodness knows what else--falling into an old-time thing one doesn't see much any more.

edit to add: Wikipedia on paan: click here...

Edited July 3, 2006 by gus_tatory (log)

[therese]

And here's a not particularly great photo of pan/paan from a local restaurant here in Atlanta (Madras Saravana Bhavan). These come wrapped in foil, and are sold at the counter. They're often sold out, so I assume they're made off site, but are clearly pretty fresh. There's no size reference in the photo, but the triangle's about 2" (5 cm) per side.

These are sweet, and I like them that way.

[Paul B]

Thanks for the info. For the non-pan (paan?) person, pan is a combination of savoury and sweet items wrapped in a leaf (usually, I think, a lime leaf). You chew the whole thing and extract the juices then spit it out. Traditionally it contains betel nut, but that is a controlled substance in Canada. The ones I bought had some chewing tobacco in them.

Anyway, I will go back and ask for them to be a bit less sweet.

Thanks for the advice.

[christabel]

You chew the whole thing and extract the juices then spit it out.

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staining whatever object the spit hits ... When I was India a number of years ago, I remember some public discussion on banning pan because its use resulted in the defacement of property. I can't imagine anyone ever took that suggestion seriously at a political level, but when you check into your hotel, only to find a wall of your room coated in blotchy pan juice it didn't seem entirely unreasonable. The one time I tried it, the betel variety, my teeth were stained for days - I looked like a vampire. That said, it did have a plesant taste/effect.