paan

plural paans · alternative pan · alternative pawn

1. IndiacountableuncountableA psychoactive preparation of betel leaf combined with areca nut and/or cured tobacco, chewed recreationally in Asia; such a preparation served wrapped in the leaf.First known use 16th c.

   ‘I am an Indian, it is an Indian habit to take pan. The Civil Surgeon must put up with it.’

   1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 13

   3 more examples

   A paan consists of chopped or shredded nut (always referred to as betel nut, though in fact it comes from the areca palm), wrapped in a leaf (which does come from the betel tree).[…]The triangular package thus formed is wedged inside your cheek and chewed slowly, and in the case of chuna and zarda paans, spitting out the juice as you go.

   2003, David Abram, Nick Edwards, The Rough Guide to South India, Rough Guides, page 52

   Perched outside Madhavbagh Temple, decorated with antique mirrors, this 100-year-old shop serves up juicy paans, plump with mawa.

   2005, Rashmi Uday Singh, Mumbai by Night, page 142

   Preparing a paan is simple. The leaf is first cleaned with water and dried. It is then covered with a thin layer of lime paste. In north India, paan sellers then spread red-coloured syrup (extracted from a native plant) over the lime paste.

   2006, M. R. Narayan Swamy, New Delhi, page 31