The batán is a kitchen utensil used to process different kinds of foods in South American, Andean and Indian cuisine. It has a flat stone (the ''batán'' proper) and a grinding stone called an ''uña''. The uña is held in both hands and rocked over the food in the batán. Depending on the process wished, the uña's weight is slightly held back, let loose over, or pressed on. The rocking movements also vary depending on the procedure. The grinding is done dry or with water or oil.

South America

The batán has been used since before the arrival of Spaniards in South America. In Andean households many different dishes are prepared in this manner, in rural and urban areas. The most important use it has is for preparing

llajwa Llajua or llajwa () is a Bolivian chili sauce prepared from ''locotos'' (''Capsicum pubescens'') hot chili peppers, and tomatoes; sometimes onions are added to the mix. One or two seasoning herbs could be added, depending on the region and taste ...

. For many Bolivians, Peruvians, Ecuadoreans and Colombians it is not the same when done in a blender. It is also used to husk grains, wash

quinoa Quinoa (''Chenopodium quinoa''; , from Quechua ' or ') is a flowering plant in the amaranth family. It is a herbaceous annual plant grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds; the seeds are rich in protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins, and ...

from its alkaloid (

saponin Saponins (Latin "sapon", soap + "-in", one of), also selectively referred to as triterpene glycosides, are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived organic chemicals that have a foamy quality when agitated in water. They are widely distributed ...

), grind grains, crush

papalisa ''Ullucus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Basellaceae, with one species, ''Ullucus tuberosus'', a plant grown primarily as a root vegetable, secondarily as a leaf vegetable. The name ''ulluco'' is derived from th ...

and even to prepare small quantities of flour. Batán de mano

India

It is also used in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in a large number of households. It is known there as "''sil-batta''" in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

with ''sil'' referring to flat stone and ''batta'' referring to a cylindrical grinding stone. In Nepal, it is known as ''silauto-lohoro''. It is known as ''pata-varvanta'' in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

and used in the state of Maharashtra. It is known as ''ammi kallu'' in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

. l.wiktionary.org/wiki/അമ്മി Meaning of the word in Malayalam Wiktionary/ref> It is known as ''"shil nora"'' in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and is basically found to be used in almost every household in

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. In

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

, it is called ''sila puaa'' where it is also worshipped as Bhu Devi or mother Earth during traditional

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

weddings and the

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

festival. It is traditionally used to grind spices and lentils in the states of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. These grinding stones are primarily used to prepare

chutney A chutney is a spread in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion or mint dipping sauce. ...

and spice mixes for cooking and occasional use including grinding soaked lentils in preparation for

dosa Dosa may refer to: People * Bogoljub Mitić Đoša, Serbian actor * Csaba Dosa (born 1951), Romanian athlete * Dosa ben Harkinas * Dosa ben Saadia (935 - 1018), Talmudic scholar and philosopher * Dosa or Dossa Júnior * Edward Dosa-Wea Neufville ...

s, vadas, or

papadum A papad is an Indian deep fried dough of black gram bean flour, either fried or cooked with dry heat (flipped over an open flame) until crunchy. Other flours made from lentils, chickpeas, rice, tapioca, millet or potato are also used. ''Papad' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batan (Stone) Bolivian cuisine Food preparation appliances Lithics Peruvian cuisine Ecuadorian cuisine Colombian cuisine Indian cuisine