Bael Pana and Bael Tea
Questions and Answers in This Story
- What is the Bael tree and where is it commonly found?
- How is the Bael tree considered sacred by Hindus?
- What is the significance of its trifoliate leaf?
- What are the traditional medicinal properties of Bael?
- How is Bael fruit traditionally used for medicinal purposes?
- How is Bael fruit used in cooking and food preparation?
- How is Bael fruit used in traditional cuisine?
- Has the Bael tree been domesticated for consumption?
- What is the significance of the Bael tree in relation to underground water?
- What is Pana Sankranti?
- What is Punni Pukur Brata?
- What is Ihi or Bael Bibaha?
- How is Bael puree extracted and stored?
- How is Bael Pana prepared?
- How is Bael Tea prepared?
- What are the traditional household tips related to Bael?
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Bael Tree and Where Is It Commonly Found?
The fruit of the Bael tree, also known as Bilva or the Golden Apple, belongs to the family Rutaceae. It is found growing wild or cultivated throughout India.
How Is the Bael Tree Considered Sacred by Hindus?
The Bael tree is considered sacred by Hindus. They offer its leaves to Lord Shiva during worship. The essence of its fruits and leaves possesses an evaporating oil that is traditionally considered beneficial for the human body. The leaves are also believed to absorb foul gases from the atmosphere and help keep the surroundings clean.
What Is the Significance of the Trifoliate Bael Leaf?
The leaf of Bael is generally trifoliate. This trifoliate leaf is symbolic of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar.
What Are Some Traditional Medicinal Properties of Bael Fruit?
Bael is traditionally believed to sharpen intellect and concentration of mind. Toasted Bael leaves, when taken with clarified butter and sugar candy powder, were believed to sharpen concentration and intelligence.
Ripe fruit is taken during summer to keep the body and mind cool and is traditionally regarded as a good laxative.
How Is Bael Fruit Traditionally Used for Medicinal Purposes?
A decoction of unripe Bengal quince or Bael fruit, baked for three hours with sugar, was traditionally used to check dysentery. Sorbet made from ripe fruit pulp was used for constipation and dyspepsia, and with added milk it was believed to help in anaemia.
How Is Bael Fruit Used in Cooking and Food Preparation?
The woody shell of the fruit has a softer rind and remains grey-green until the fruit is fully ripe, when it turns yellowish.
For medicinal use, the young fruits, while still tender, are commonly sliced horizontally, sun-dried and sold in local markets. They were exported to Malaya and Europe.
Bengal quince was so commonly used by Western practitioners in India in earlier days that it found its way into the British Pharmacopoeia.
How Is Bael Fruit Used in Traditional Cuisine?
Traditionally, tender green Bael fruits are used to make murabba. Green Bael fruit slices are often sun-dried and stored for future use.
Sometimes drinks are prepared at home by mixing tamarind or yogurt with the fruit pulp.
Has the Bael Tree Been Domesticated for Consumption?
In spite of its long history and therapeutic properties, Bael fruit has not been domesticated through human selection for regular consumption, but mainly for puja rituals.
Since there is a growing demand from consumers all over the world for natural and health foods, as well as for new nutritious and delicately flavoured products, awareness about the value of Bael fruit appears to be growing.
What Is the Significance of the Bael Tree in Relation to Underground Water?
In ancient India, Bilva was regarded as the most sacred of all fruits and was used as the main food offering to temple deities.
Only in comparatively recent times has coconut superseded Bilva as the principal fruit of religious offering or as a symbol of self-surrender.
The fruit is known as Sriphal, by the name of Goddess Sri Lakshmi.
The bunch of three leaves of the tree is symbolised as the trident of Lord Shiva and is traditionally used as a sacred offering to him. Bael also finds mention in early Buddhist and Jain literature.
It is said that this tree indicates the presence of underground water.
What Is Pana Sankranti?
The New Year festival of the Hindu calendar is known as Pana Sankranti.
A special drink called Pana, prepared from a mixture of Bael fruit and yogurt, is offered to Goddess Tulsi or Basil on this day.
This act symbolically represents that water, being the most important constituent for sustaining life on Earth, should be provided to all during the summer months.
What Is Punni Pukur Brata and What Is Its Significance?
In Bengal, the observance of the vow ritual known as Punni Pukur Brata includes the digging of a miniature sacred pond and the planting of either a twig of the Bael tree or the Tulsi plant.
The pond is filled with water. It may possibly be an imitative rite expressing the wish that real ponds and tanks should be filled with rainwater.
What Is Ihi or Bael Bibaha?
Ihi or Bael Bibaha is a ceremony in the Newar community in Nepal in which pre-adolescent girls are “married” to the Bael fruit or wood apple, which is a symbol of the god Vishnu, ensuring that the girl becomes and remains fertile.
It is believed that if the girl’s husband dies later in her life, she is never considered a widow because she is married to Vishnu and therefore already has a husband who is believed to be still alive.
This sacred ritual has been in practice for hundreds of years. The marriage rituals need not be performed again while getting married to a man.
The second marriage is known as the Bahra ceremony or Sun marriage.
Bael Puree
The fruit is not consumed very widely because it is difficult to eat, but it may become more popular if suitably processed.
Adding water and applying gentle heat dilutes the mucilage and makes it possible to extract the pulp more easily.
I used to make this on weekends to avoid extra trouble during busy weekdays. I found this to be the easiest and handiest way to prepare and store my health drinks for a hot summer day.
How to Extract Bael Pulp and Prepare the Puree
To prepare the ripe fruit gel or puree, open the hard rind of the fruit by striking it against a hard object and remove the fruit pulp.
Steep the pulp in cold water with the seeds and fibre for half an hour. It can then be scooped easily to make a liquid pulp.
Heat the liquid pulp gently at about 30°C for 10 minutes under constant watch, and then strain it through a sieve to separate the seeds and fibre from the pulp.
The Bael fruit pulp obtained has almost the same consistency and colour as mango pulp.
How to Sweeten the Bael Puree
Take 500 g of sugar for 1 kg of pulp and boil it in 500 ml of water for 15 minutes.
The scum that rises to the surface of the syrup must be carefully removed to help the fruit puree keep longer. Stir well while boiling.
Add the strained Bael pulp to the sugar syrup and boil for another 7 to 10 minutes.
Although the fruit is rich in pectin, it does not form jelly because of the excess of gummy substances.
How to Store Bael Puree
After cooling, the puree can be stored in the freezer. I preferred to freeze it in an ice tray wrapped with cling film so that one portion could be used at a time.
The storage observation of 9°C refers to whole Bael fruit, not to the prepared puree. Marked physiological breakdown of whole fruit is noticed when the storage temperature is below 9°C.
Spoilage of Bael fruit is mainly due to fungal attack. The stem end of the fruit is very vulnerable to infection.
Bael Pana
About 60% of the fruit is sufficient for an adult.
Take one scoop of prepared puree, add chilled water and drink it in the early morning. It will keep you cool and fresh throughout the day.
For variation, you can add skim milk, yogurt or tamarind pulp of your choice to this puree. Shake well, and your health drink will be ready in a few minutes.
Bael Tea
How to Prepare Bael Slices for Tea
For the preparation of Bael Tea, slice the unripe fruit into half-inch-thick pieces, wash them in water, prick them with a stainless-steel fork and soak them overnight in cold water.
The pieces are then blanched and placed in a light sugar syrup. The strength of the syrup is gradually raised to 70° Brix.
The Bael fruit is then toasted either in a grill oven or a toaster oven. Either way, it should take no more than one minute. There will be some burnt parts.
Traditional Bael Tea Boiling Method
The traditional method of boiling Bael Tea is to drop the toasted Bael fruit slices into a pot, add water and boil for at least two minutes.
This method brings out the most flavour.
Tips
Apply the juice of fresh Bael leaves all over the body every day to prevent unpleasant odour from the body.
The fruit was traditionally used to treat leukoderma.
Burning the outer shell of Bengal quince repels insects and mosquitoes.
In the olden days, the sharp, straight thorn of the Bael tree was used as a nose pricker.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is another name for Bael fruit?
Bael is also known as Bilva, the Golden Apple and Bengal quince.
Which plant family does Bael belong to?
The Bael tree belongs to the Rutaceae family.
Why is the Bael leaf important in Hindu worship?
Its trifoliate leaf is traditionally associated with Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar and is offered to Lord Shiva.
How is tender green Bael fruit traditionally used?
It is used to make murabba, and slices are also sun-dried and stored for future use.
How is Bael Pana traditionally varied at home?
Skim milk, yogurt or tamarind pulp may be added to the prepared Bael puree according to household taste and tradition.
Can Bael puree be frozen?
Yes. After cooling, it can be frozen in an ice tray wrapped with cling film and used one portion at a time.
Does the 9°C storage note refer to the puree?
No. The 9°C observation refers to the storage of whole Bael fruit. The prepared puree is stored separately in the freezer.
How long is Bael Tea boiled?
The toasted Bael slices are boiled in water for at least two minutes.
What is Ihi or Bael Bibaha?
It is a Newar ceremony in Nepal in which a pre-adolescent girl is ceremonially married to a Bael fruit representing Vishnu.
What is Punni Pukur Brata?
It is a Bengali vow ritual involving a miniature sacred pond, water and a twig of either Bael or Tulsi.