betel-leaf vendor! is it ok?

yogivivek

somebody ever heard of this?

it are some spices and herbs wrapt in l leaf

i heard its quite healthy

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seventies'hippy

somebody ever heard of this?

it are some spices and herbs wrapt in l leaf

i heard its quite healthy

I'm sure our Indian friends can elaborate more on this than me but,,,,,,,
Chewing betal leaves used to be more popular than it is today, you can get various flavours depending on ingredients the vendor has put in,some can be quite addictive,,,,,,,,,
If you look around the streets & corners of buildings etc and see a lot of red splashes, this is caused by people spitting the juices out,,,,,,,,
There were plenty of rumours around that certain ones caused mouth cancer,,,,,,,,,

ace

Popular, yes . . . healthy no!

Betel nut, does in fact, cause oropharyngeal cancer . . .

wonderwomanusa

Chewing "pan" turns your teeth black if you do it regularly. Very ugly, and there's nothing healthy about it.

yogivivek

wow,

ok.

cancer?


mhhh.




not good, no betel leaf for me!!!!

radz

shimsila: Its not healthy to have offten,
its called "PAN" in Hindi.You find them street corner outside hotels ,markets etc.
Its ok for once u try .But having offten lead to cancer ,black teeth etc.

But its popular all health warning ppl still using it.

Banaras is famous for "pan".

South India after meals or any function after having food people offer betal leave&nuts .I think its used like mint freshener.

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cyberhippie

Try it once it won't kill you!! Though you may need a tin of red tooth powder afterwards!!
Try the little packets of crushed betel nut the sweetened ones are best, many places sell these little sachets.
probably not too healthy but it won't do you any harm to try a couple!!

Bigzero

it IS fun to have paan once in a while! especially the packaged ones ( the ones shaped like cones, sinfully sweet ). completes the fine dining experience.

advanced users however prefer the custom-made ones with code-words like 120, 160 etc thrown in to specify the grain of tobacco to go with it!

actually watching the pan being prepared is more fun than having it. go to a popular pan joint and order a meetha (sweet ) pan ( better if there is a "special" variety and watch the amazing array of ingredients that go in - all shapes and sizes, all with a definite purpose ( beats me).

what i dont like is the spitting part. especially in north indian towns. stairways, walls, you have them everywhere.

betel leaf, as it is, doesnt seem to be harmful. but i am not so sure about the scores of other stuff that go in. of course, there is tobacco too..

go to rural india and you will see raw tobacco ( in its dried leaf form ) being cut and added into the paan mix. the height of advanced paan usage? raw tobacco leaf, lime, betelnut, and the leaf. thats it. no bells and whistles, nothing sweet. Guaranteed to turn your teeth black over time and increase chances of cancer in the mouth.

i have never attempted paan with tobacco, but have seen people (almost) passing out.

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Bigzero

forgot to mention the spitting part - the long, read streak that comes out of a window or a doorway and crosses right in front of you as you are walking by, taking you completely by surprise.

paan-spit dodging is an art to be mastered.

Digital Drifter

After a meal, you feel heavy,distended or feel like throwing up, a single plain dark green betel leaf will usually keep things quiet immediately. At least enough time for you to grab a siesta. Just chew the leaf without adding anything. Some like the slow burning & astringent kind of taste of betel leaf.

hmmm.. I wonder, has anyone tried growing a betel vine anywhere at home?

cyberhippie

Forgive my confusion but I thought betel nut grew on trees not vines and that the leave used to wrap the crushed betel nut lime etc came from another plant am I mistaken?? It would seem so!

Digital Drifter

You are correct but you are mistaking the common usage as in 'missing the woods for the trees' :-)

The nut/ nut shavings come from the Areca nut tree and the leaves from the betel vine. Because of the association, the confusion arose.

Please see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betel_nut

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Bigzero

yes! betel leaf is from a vine - the raw leaf has a stinging, tingling kind of taste. It is the "base" ingredient for all paan preparations.

Betel nut is a nut ( another word is arecanut ) from a tall, slender palm tree which looks like a caricature of the coconut palm. it is as tall (or taller ), and is less than one third in girth. the tree looks dangerously unstable, swaying all the time.

a typical plantation/farm( what do you call them ?) will consist of hundreds of trees and plucking the arecanut once they are ripe( or ready for picking ) is an art. the guy climbs ( actually almost runs ) up one tree, uses his knife to chop the bunches of arecanut so that they fall to the ground, and then he goes to the next tree without climbing down! how does he do that? he induces swaying of the tree is currently on by swinging this way and that way, and as he is within arms length of the next tree, he grabs it and off he goes! chilling sight to behold. thus he goes from tree to tree and gets down once they are done. i dont know if this is a standard practice everywhere, but have watched this myself in a number of places.

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Layman

Ever come across the "palang tod" paan? Indian viagra heh heh.

palang = cot
tod = break

cyberhippie

Thanks guys I live and learn!! I had seen the Betulnut Palms hence my confusion, I can now see the wood for the tree so to speak