Hi Mamta

I think your website is absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much for your

hard work.

I wondered if you could give me some advice. A colleague of mine went to a

posh Indian restaurant in Australia. After the meal she was given some

breath freshener spices.

Do you know what these might be? And, if so do you have the recipe?

Many thanks

David

Dear David

Thank you for your comments, much appreciated :)!

Mouth fresheners can be of many types. They not only freshen your mouth after an Indian meal, they also help with digestion by making you chew, thereby releasing saliva. Things like fennel, betel leaves and betel nuts have digestive and anti-flatulence properties. If you put the word ?Mukhwas? in google.in, you will get many types. Basically, they are a mix of some or all of following things;

Fine fennel seeds

Chopped or thickly sliced betle nuts

Dried ?pan? or betel leaves, broken up (beetle leaves-they have nothing to do with beetle nuts)

Flavoured sugar crystals or ?misri?.

Sugar coated fennel seeds

Dhania dana or coriander seeds. These are not the ones you cook with. They are specially prepared for mouth fresheners and consist of the core of seeds.

Green cardamom seeds.

Rose petals

Peppermint drops

Shredded (not desiccated) dry coconut

I am thinking of posting a few recipes for it on this site, so if anyone here has a good recipe for it, please send it in to me via the contact link.

Mamta

isn't the Beetle nut what used to be on one brand of chewing gum in the Uk (years ago) might have even been what it was called?

Steve

it's such a shame that shop bought mukhwas is full of strange E numbers and artificial colours. it might taste nice, but i am afraid to buy them, so yes it would be nice to have some home made recipes with all natural ingredients.

I have added a small collection of Indian Mouth fresheners on site and will add more later.

Mamta

Well thats a whole new side of Indian Cookery to me! Haven't heard of half of those things.

Steve

That's great Mamta. Many thanks for all your advice and help.

Hi david and everyone else,

mouth freshners are like mints or chewing gum for indians. Just that its made from raw ingredients and is unprocessed, so much better. The most common that you see in Indian restaurants is "Fennel Seeds" called "Variyali" It can be flavoured or simply green seeds. You can ry any indian Mukhvas that you want. just make sure it doesn't have tobacco or "supari" in it, which could be harmful.

Visit my blogsite for more such stuff http://funnfud.blogspot.com

Thanks,

-Mansi

Fun and Food

I often chew on raw ingredients just because they are there and it allows me to understand their taste (so I can better use them in recipes).. I can't say things like Fennel last a long time in the mouth though... I'd say it wouldn't take away Garlic/Curry breath for very long ? Parsley is supposed to work though.

Nothing really takes away the garlic breath, but anise/fine fennel goes a long wat Steve. You do have to have at leats a teaspoonfull though, not just a few seeds.

Greetings from Singapore! Had some wonderful BBQ fish and Tom Yum Soup in Bougie street last night. They do know how to serve fast food here!

Mamta

Wow you really do make the effort to go out for a BBQ.. .lol

Steve

I'm just wondering now about cloves, is there any tradition/history that these were used for toothache ? As I know in our modern medicine cabinets you sometimes see oil of clove to be used directly on an aching tooth. Knowing this I have given people a clove to chew on when they get toothache, which works !

Steve

Yes, cloves are used and have been used in Ayurvedic medicine for generations. Whole cloves are chewed as mouth fresheners. Their oil is used as a pain killer for dental problems and antiseptic for mouth, as well as ears.

Its surprising how well it works for something people might not even think twice about.

Steve