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Atava(h) /tawa(h) (mainly on theIndian subcontinent),saj (in Arabic),sac (in Turkish), and other variations,[clarification needed] is a metal cooking utensil.[1] The tawa is round and is usually curved: the concave side is used as awok orfrying pan, the convex side for cookingflatbreads andpancakes.[1][2] There are also flat tawas.
The Indian tawa might have a handle or not, and it can be made ofcast iron,aluminium,[1] orcarbon steel.[3] It may beenameled or given anon-stick surface.[4][5] The tawa and saj are used in the cuisines ofSouth,[1]Central, andWest Asia, as well as of theBalkans. The tawa is also used inIndo-Caribbean cuisine.[6]
In Iran, thePersian wordtāve (تاوه) is used[7] which is derived from the Persian word taaba which means something that is curved or tempered. The root wordtaab in Persian is a verb which means to bend or temper or curve (but see here-below for the use ofsaj in Iran). It is cognate withtawaa, a word which in nearly allIndo-Aryan languages such asPunjabi,Hindi andUrdu means cooking pan.[8] In Afghanistan, the curved cast-iron utensil used for cooking bread is known astawah,[9] but inPashto it is more popularly known astabakhey (تبخے/طبخی).[citation needed] TheGeorgian cognate istapa (ტაფა).[citation needed]
Saj (Arabic:صاج,lit. 'sheet-metal') is the equivalent oftava in Arabic,[10][11] with the equivalentsac in Turkish, and is used in Southwest Asia.[9] The name "sac" comes from Old Turkish "sāç".[12] In Iran,saj is used for the curved iron plate employed in cooking bread[9] (but see here-above for the use oftāve in Iran).
The wordtava is also used in Turkish and all across the Balkans, and refers to any kind of frying pan.[citation needed][dubious –discuss] In Serbia and Bulgaria, however, aтава (tava) is a metal baking tray with raised margins (for the meaning ofsach in those same countries, see here-below).[citation needed] In Romanian and Albanian too,tava and "tavë" can meanbaking tray, such as employed for baking in an oven, but it can also meantray, such as used for serving food and drink.[13]
Thesač is a saj-shaped lid used as a cooking utensil in the Balkans. In Serbia and Bulgaria, the flat ceramicсач (sach) orсачѐ (sachè) is used for tabletop cooking of thin slices of vegetables and meat[citation needed] (for the meaning oftava in those same countries, see here-above).
Atava orsaj is used to bake a variety of leavened and unleavenedflatbreads andpancakes across the broad region:pita,naan,saj bread,roti,chapati,paratha,dosa, andpesarattu. In Pakistan, especially in rural areas, large convexsaj are used to cook several breads at the same time or to makerumali roti.
In Turkey and the Levant, a saj is used to make the starch wafers used ingüllaç.[14]
Besides making bread, a tava orsaj can be used as a pan to cook meat and vegetables, or other foods. For example,sajiyeh (Arabic:صاجية) is a dish made by frying meat and vegetables (typicallybell peppers) in olive oil on a saj, popular inJordan andPalestine.[15][16]
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Cooking techniques | |||||||
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| Dry |
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| Wet |
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| Fat-based |
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| Mixed medium | |||||||
| Device-based | |||||||
| Non-heat | |||||||
| See also | |||||||
