Mukhvas
and Paan ----After dinner mouth freshener
What is the last thing that
you eat after dinner once the bill is paid and ready to leave. Its those
brightly colored green and red sugar coated mixture of saunf , jintan (silver
mini balls) , dhania daal that gives a sweet after taste and kill the foul
breath. Yes it’s the Indian Mukhvas the Indian recipe for after food digestive
and a mouth freshener.
Mukhvas is a colorful
Indian after-meal snack or digestive aid. It also freshens your breath. It can
be made of various seeds and nuts, but often found with fennel seeds, anise
seeds, coconut, and sesame seeds. They are sweet in flavor and highly aromatic
due to added sugar and the addition of various essential oils, including
peppermint oil. The seeds can be savory or sweet-coated in sugar and brightly
colored. Plain water drunk after chewing and consuming the fennel seeds
contained therein tastes extremely sweet.
Occasionally, this is
eaten for medicinal purposes.The word is an amalgamation of two distinctly
different words, Mukh meaning mouth
and Vas meaning smell.
If want to understand the serious
business of Mukhwas ask any of your Gujarati friend what variety they keep as
Mukhvas in their homes as standard. He / She will rattle off names like
Jamnagri mixture , Sekeli Variyaali ane Sekeli dal mix , Ajwain dal (carom
seeds) , Suwa Dal , Aam Chokhi (sweet & sour mango candy strips), Anar dana
(spicy &sour dried pomegranate seed candy which is an after meal digestive)
, Anar vati (spicy & sweet pomegranate seed tablet shaped candy which has
medicinal property to control Blood Pressure and helps in improving Iron absorption) , Drakshya vati (grape
digestive) , Galya Amla ( amla candy strips) , Harde (little pungent pellets
specially for those complaining of gas and flatulence) , Imgli goli (those
small round balls made of Imli with is tangy taste and made famous by Jet
Airways ) , Jeera goli (those dark colored balls with spicy sour taste) , Keri
vati (raw mango candy) . Some others like Khari Khati Gotli which is lip
smacking but also helps relieves head ache and known to cure diarrhea and
fights obesity.
Some other variants are Pineapple vati (
pineapple flavored digestive) , Aam vati (ripe mango digestive), Sweet Ambodiya
, Teekha Ambodiya , Hing Goli (asafetida falvoured) , Adrakh sadi (ginger
flavored) to name few.
Then there are the other famous mixtures
like Green Mukhvas – the colorful mixture widely available and favorite of all.
The Rashbahri Variali (rashbhari flavored fennel seeds).Other favorite are the
various suparis like Milky Supari (soft and sweet after meal tit-bits) ,
Pineapple Supari ,Kesar tukda and Kolkatta tukda. Then there are the special
pan falvoured mukhwas like Kolkatta pan mukhwas , Paan gilori (dates filled
with kolkatta pan mix) and the dried sahi paan mix.
All these fascinating digestive candies
and mixtures and home made or sourced from special manufacturer like Mama
Mukhwas Wala of Ahmedabad started 60 years ago as Jalaram Mukhwas by
Kanhiyalal Pandhi , who sold home made pouches of mukhwas going door to door in
Ahemdabad. The small business got a big boost when it received an order 5
timesthe scented supari it stocked.The
business outgrew and metamorphosed into Mama Mukhwas wala in 1990 . Its initial
offerings were the crushed supari , digestive gollis (pellets ) and variyali.
Today is boasts of a state of the art manufacturing set up and exports its
mukhwas across the globe. Becoming a well known brand “Mama Mukhwas Wala” . Be
sure to pick some of its tastiest product next time you are in Ahmedabad.
The other mouth freshner we Indians have
been habituated is the Paan . Paan , from Sanskrit parṇa, meaning
"leaf” is a preparation combining betel leaf with areca
nut and sometimes also with tobacco.It is chewed for its stimulant and psychoactive effects.After chewing it is either spat out or swallowed.
Paan has many variations. Slaked
lime (chunnam) paste is commonly added to bind the leaves.
Some South Asian preparations include katha paste or mukhwas to freshen the breath.
Paan is a ubiquitous sight in many
parts of South and South East Asia. It is known by various names , Glori in
Urdu Beeda in Hindi , thambulam in Tamil
, Tha\mbula in Kannada , Killi in Telugu , Sireh in Malay , Sirih in Indonesia
, Suruh in Javanese and Bulath in Sinhalese to name few. Story of Paan dates
back to 16th century when
Ghiyas-ud-din Khilji,
the Sultan of Mandu (1469–1500),
made his khamsama’s prepare a after meal shahi paan with tender betel leaves of
the finest quality spread out sprinkled
with rosewater stuffed with betel nut , kattha ,gulkand and saffron. An
elaborate betel chew or paan would also contain fragrant spices and rose
preserves with chopped areca nuts.
It is a tradition in South India and
nearby regions to give two Betel leaves, areca nut (pieces or whole) and
Coconut to the guests (both male and female) at any auspicious occasion. Even
on a regular day it is the tradition to give a married woman, who visits the
house, two Betel leaves, areca nut and coconut or some fruits along with a
string of threaded flowers. This is referred to as tambolam.
Betel leaf used to make paan is
produced in different parts of India. Some states that produce betel leaf for
paan include West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. In West
Bengal two types of betel leaves are produced. These are "Bangala Patta
(Country Leaf)" and Mitha Patta (Sweet Leaf)". In West Bengal, Bangla
patta is produced mainly
in district of Dinajpur, Malda, Jalpaiguri, and Nadia. Mitha
patta is produced in
places such as Midnapur and South 24 Parganas
The skilled paan
maker is known as a paanwala in North India. In other parts, paanwalas are also known as panwaris or panwadis. And the best paan that you
can get in a city of Mumbai are at 4 places .Mucchad Pan
Wala (Breach
Candy)- originally from Allahabad (UP)
Shyama Charan Tiwari came from Allahabad and started making paans from the same place where the famous Mucchad shop stands today. He has 4 sons, who in turn have 11 sons, and all of them stay together with all the love in a 200 sq feet place. They all keep a moustache and consider it their khandani pesha. It is due to their moustaches that they came to be know as Mucchads. Their 'maghai meetha paan' is simply delicious .They have introduced some more flavors to attract their customers and all the flavors are a big hit! Some to mention are, Chocolate, Strawberry, Raspberry, Pineapple, and Ganga Jamuna. Ganga Jamuna has a vareity of electrifying fillings to give you a kick. Ganga Jamuna is the most demanded among the customers.
Ghantawala Pan Mandir (Borivali): originally from Bhadohi
(UP)Vinod Kumar Tiwari became famous as Ghantawala Panwala as he is a big Shiv
bhakt and before he serves a paan to a customer, he rings the bell and serves
the paan to Lord Shiva. His grandfather used to follow this tradition as a
Kashi baba told him that Shiva is the only God who gives you more than your
bhaag. This is the only paan shop in the world that holds a record in the Guinness
book. Their loyal customers have brought 450 different bells over the years
from across 169 countries in the world as a gift for him, that have all been
displayed in his shop. And this is why he holds the record for the maximum
number of bells in his shop. His chocolate paan and maghai meetha are very
popular.
Mama
Panwala (King's Circle) originally from Pali (Rajasthan)
Dinesh Tak is an Electronics engineer from Mumbai
University. His father was a paanwala who had come to Mumbai many decades ago
with his bhanja, who also assisted him in making paans. He would all the time
address him as 'Mama', which the customers also started emulating and he came
to be known as 'Mama Panwala'. Dinesh, like his father, believes that a paan
has natural digestive qualities and thus, he ensures that his paan has no
artificial colours and he uses the best ingredients to keep it simple and
tasty. Dinesh worked with an IT firm for five years, but today, prefers to make
paans instead as that is his family business.
And last last but not the least Sharda Pan Bhandar (Shivaji Park)patronized
by young and old alike from Dadar , Shivaji Park and Mahim . After dinner head
to this small stall opposite the famous school Bal Mohan Vidya Mandir and which
is open well in to the early hours of morning . You will always find this place
crowded to tuck into its meetha paan or the special Magai or the recent
favorite Chocolate paan stuffed with choco chips and can be had even by small
kids. Something unusal is a paan going by the name of powder paan , though I
haven’t tried it you can have go at it at your own risk.
So next time you have dinner and feel a little
bloated either try the Mukhwas or the digestive gollis or if you in a mood to
end the night on a Rasila note bite into a Kolkatta Meetha paan and have the
time of your life.
As the famous Bollywood song from the original
Don featuring the Superstar Amitabh Bacchan goes –
“Arrey bhang kaa rang
jamaa ho chakaachak
Phir lo paan chabaay –
Phir lo paan chabaay –
Arrey aisaa jhatkaa
lage jiyaa pe
Punar janam hoi jaay
O khaike paan banaaras vaalaa
O khaike paan banaaras vaalaa ,
O khaike paan banaaras vaalaa ,
Khul jaaye band akal kaa taalaa.
Phir to aisaa kare dhamaal
Seedhi kar de sabki chaal”
Phir to aisaa kare dhamaal
Seedhi kar de sabki chaal”