Recipe
Sweet paan without areca or tobacco
- Herb:
- Betel Piper betle
- Method:
- Culinary use
- Plant part:
- Leaf
About 10 minBeginnerRecipe science profile
Procedure
- Wash and dry a fresh betel leaf and trim the tough stalk; lay it glossy side down.
- Put a teaspoon of grated coconut in the centre, a pinch of fennel seeds, a piece of candied ginger or rose petal jam (gulkand) and a few cardamom seeds.
- Fold the leaf edges inwards and roll into a cone; pin with a clove if you like.
- Eat whole, after a meal. No lime paste, no areca, no tobacco.
Extraction
- Herb:
- 1 čerstvý list na porci
- Solvent:
- bez extrakce — list se jí čerstvý jako obal
- Shelf life:
- sníst ihned
- Target compounds:
- silice (chavikol, eugenol) dává listu pepřovou, lehce hořkou chuť
Notes
This recipe leaves out the areca nut and tobacco that make the traditional paan a carcinogenic quid (IARC Group 1). Only the leaf, spices and a sweet filling remain — as a refreshment after a meal, not for regular chewing.
Why it works
The leaf itself contributes a volatile oil with chavicol and eugenol and a bittersweet taste. The carcinogenicity of the traditional betel quid is, according to IARC, due to the areca nut (arecoline, nitrosamines) and tobacco, not the leaf; hence both are left out here.
Literature
- IARC Monographs Vol. 85 (2004): Betel-quid and Areca-nut Chewing and Some Areca-nut-derived Nitrosamines — Betelové sousto (s tabákem i bez) a arekový oříšek jsou karcinogenní pro člověka (skupina 1).
Related
Betel — Herb card
Culinary use — Processing method detail