Pan (food)
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Pan (pronounced (Pah-HN) is popular South Asian snack made from wrapping a variety of sweets into a beetel leaf or tobacco leaf.
[edit] Overview
The typical Pan (which is tobacco leaf) contains a mango paste sprinkled with fennel seeds, coconut shavings, tamarind sauce, and lychee. This mixture is sometimes called gutka. Typically Pan is not given to children and young adults because it is often served with sliced betel nut. Since the effects of betelnut can be intoxicating, pan that is sold to children often contains sugar coated fennel seeds instead of the betelnut.
Pan is readily available in most South Asian countries, though variations will exist. A vendor will often encourage the customer to state what ingredients to put before wrapping the leaf. Although usually prepared for immediate consumption, pan can be wrapped in foil and frozen for later enjoyment.
The proper way to eat pan is to consume the entire leaf in one bite, and chew until all the juices are extracted from the leaf. The layering of different spices and ingredients, along with the diversity of vendor preparation methods will often make eating each and every pan a slightly different experience.
This is also considered as very healthy after having heavy lunch or dinner. Its also called with different names in India, for eg., Khilli in Andhra and Bida in Tamilnadu though Pan is more predominantly used word across the region.
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