A tava(h) / tawa(h) (mainly on the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...
), saj (in Arabic), sac (in Turkish) and other variations and combinations thereof, is a metal-made cooking utensil.
The tawa is round and can be flat, but more commonly has a curved profile, and while the
concave
Concave or concavity may refer to:
Science and technology
* Concave lens
* Concave mirror
Mathematics
* Concave function, the negative of a convex function
* Concave polygon, a polygon which is not convex
* Concave set
In geometry, a subset o ...
side can be used as a
wok or
frying pan
A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab han ...
, the convex side is used for cooking
flatbread
A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread.
Flatbreads r ...
s and
pancake
A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying w ...
s.
[
The Indian tawa might have a handle or not, and it can be made of ]cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuri ...
or aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
,[ or of ]carbon steel
Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states:
* no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, coba ...
. The utensil may be enameled or given a non-stick surface
A non-stick surface is engineered to reduce the ability of other materials to stick to it. Non-stick cookware is a common application, where the non-stick coating allows food to brown without sticking to the pan. Non-stick is often used to refer ...
. The tawa and saj are used in the cuisines of South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
,[ ]Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
, and West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
Asia, as well as of the Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historica ...
and the Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
. The tawa is also used in Indo-Caribbean
Indo-Caribbeans or Indian-Caribbeans are Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin, Indian people in the Caribbean who are descendants of the Girmityas, Jahaji Indian indenture system, Indian indentured laborers brought by the United Kingdom ...
cuisine.
Names by region
Taaba, Tava, tawa
In Iran the Persian word ''tāve'' () is used which is derived from Persian word taaba which means something that is curved or tempered. The root word taab in Persian is a verb which means to bend or temper or curve (but see here-below for the use of ''saj'' in Iran). It is cognate with ''tawaa'', a word which in nearly all Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, P ...
such as Punjabi
Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan
* Punjabi language
* Punjabi people
* Punjabi dialects and languages
Punjabi may also refer to:
* Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...
, 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 ...
and means cooking pan. In Afghanistan the curved cast-iron utensil used for cooking bread is known as ''tawah'',[ but in ]Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
it is more popularly known as ''tabakhey'' (). The Georgian cognate is ''tapa'' ().
Saj, saç
''Saj'' (, ''lit.'' sheet-metal) is the equivalent of ''tava'' in Arabic, with the equivalent ''saç'' or ''sac'' in Turkish, and is used in Southwest Asia. In Iran ''saj'' is used for the curved iron plate employed in cooking bread[ (but see here-above for the use of ''tāve'' in Iran).
]
Variants, change of meaning
The word ''tava'' is also used in Turkish and all across the Balkans, and refers to any kind of frying pan. In Serbia and Bulgaria however, a ''тава'' (''tava'') is a metal baking tray with raised margins (for the meaning of ''sach'' in those same countries, see here-below). In Romanian too, ''tava'' can mean baking tray
Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferred ...
, such as are employed for baking in an oven, but it can also mean tray, such as used for serving food and drink."tavă"
at DEX online. Accessed 22 Dec 2021.
The sač is a saj-shaped lid used as a cooking utensil in the Balkans. In Serbia and Bulgaria, the flat ceramic ''сач'' (''sach'') or ''сачѐ'' (''sachè'') is used for table-top cooking of thin slices of vegetables and meat (for the meaning of ''tava'' in those same countries, see here-above).
Pita.jpg, Pita
Pita ( or ) or pitta (British English), is a family of yeast-leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and neighboring areas. It includes the widely known version with an interior pocket, also ...
being baked on a convex saj
Food_Gechresh_Azerbaijan_01.jpg, Reversible Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani may refer to:
* Something of, or related to Azerbaijan
* Azerbaijanis
* Azerbaijani language
See also
* Azerbaijan (disambiguation)
* Azeri (disambiguation)
* Azerbaijani cuisine
* Culture of Azerbaijan
The culture of Azerbaijan ...
sac with handles
Markouk - Bread on Saje.jpg, Markouk being baked on a convex saj
Uses
A ''tava'' or ''saj'' is used to bake a variety of leavened and unleavened flatbread
A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread.
Flatbreads r ...
s and pancake
A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying w ...
s across the broad region: pita
Pita ( or ) or pitta (British English), is a family of yeast-leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and neighboring areas. It includes the widely known version with an interior pocket, also ...
, naan
Naan ( fa, نان, nān, ur, , ps, نان, ug, نان, hi, नान, bn, নান) is a leavened, oven-baked or tawa-fried flatbread which is found in the cuisines mainly of Western Asia, Central Asia, Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, ...
, saj bread, roti
Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is popular in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trin ...
, chapati
Chapati (alternatively spelled chapatti, chappati, chapathi, or chappathi; pronounced as IAST: ), also known as ''roti'', ''rotli'', ''safati'', ''shabaati'', ''phulka'', (in East Africa) ''chapo'', (in Marathi) ''poli'', and (in the Maldives) ...
, paratha, 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 Neufv ...
, and pesarattu. In Pakistan, especially in rural areas, large convex ''saj'' are used to cook several breads at the same time or to make rumali roti.
File:Woman Baking Bread on Saj Oven in Artas, West Bank, Palestine.JPG, A Palestinian woman baking ''markook'' on a saj in a West Bank village
File:Fulka Roti.jpg, A roti
Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is popular in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trin ...
being baked on a tava
File:Gözleme Break (6335105588).jpg, Gözleme, a filled bread, being baked on a sac
File:Preparation of qurasah.jpg, Manasir woman preparing ''qurasah'' (قراصة), the daily bread on Sherari Island in Dar al-Manasir in Northern Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
File:Tawa sabji.jpg, Vegetables fried in a tawa
File:Aloo chaat vendor, Connaught Place, New Delhi.jpg, Aloo chaat
Alu chat (also spelled as alu chaat, aloo chat, or aloo chaat) is a street food originating from the Indian subcontinent, it is popular in North India, West Bengal in Eastern India, Pakistan, parts of Sylhet Division of Bangladesh and Trinidad a ...
being cooked in a large tava
File:Fishes_fried_in_Dosai_pan.JPG, Fish frying in a tawa
See also
* Comal (cookware)
A comal is a smooth, flat griddle typically used in Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America, to cook tortillas and arepas, toast spices and nuts, sear meat, and generally prepare food. Similar cookware is called a budare in South Am ...
, a similar utensil in Mexican cuisine
* Karahi, a similar utensil in Indian cuisine
* Wok, a similar utensil in East Asian cuisine
* Mittad
* Mongolian barbecue, a Taiwanese grill dish sometimes using a saj-like frying pan
* List of cooking vessels
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
{{Cooking Techniques
Cooking vessels
Pancakes
Middle Eastern cuisine
South Asian cuisine
Central Asian cuisine
Pakistani food preparation utensils
Indian food preparation utensils