As the festive season arrives, the beauty of happiness in the houses increases. Colorful lights in the markets, aroma of sweets and sweetness in relationships dissolve. Some buy barfi, some laddus… among them all is the most famous cashew katli. In any special oxation, it is the pride of the plate of every household. Above all, the gleaming thin layer i.e. silver work makes sweets special.
But have you ever thought that this silver work is pure vegetarian or not? This question has arisen in the minds of many people for years. This layer looks very beautiful in appearance, but sometimes the way to make it is quite different.
What is silver work?
Silver work is a very thin silver foil, which is fitable. It does not affect the taste or smell of sweets. It makes the dessert attractive. Traditionally, artisans prepared it by hand. Small pieces of real silver were made so thin by beating with a hammer that it looked fine than paper. After this it was carefully affixed to sweets, so that their brightness could increase.
Many families believe that sweets look incomplete without silver work. Cashew katli, peda, barfi or milk cake gives this layer royal feeling on all of them, but its journey has not always been so easy. There was a time when people shied away from eating it.
When this tradition started in olden times, the artisans used animal skins or intestines instead of paper to dilute silver. This caused silver pieces to spread easily and did not burst. Meat was not used directly in this process, but the involvement of animal products in it caused confusion in vegetarians. Many religious families had distanced distance from such silver work sweets. Even some religious events and temples were banned from offering this sweets.
The dispute came to an end in 2016. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued an order that no animal products or organs would be used in the construction of edible silver layer. Today, with the help of modern technology, it is produced completely from machines. Silver is beaten between the passage paper or synthetic sheet, making it a thin layer.
