Tava
A tava, tawa, tapa, saj, or saj tava is a flat or concave disc-shaped frying pan or griddle, usually made of cast iron, aluminum, or carbon steel. It may be enameled or given a non-stick surface. It is used in the cuisines of Central, West, and South Asia, and of the Caucasus, the Caribbean, and the Balkans. The large concave styles of tava, sometimes called a saj or sac tava, may be turned upside down for cooking a variety of flatbreads on the convex side. The concave side is used like a wok or frying pan.Etymology
In nearly all Indo-Aryan languages such as Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu tawaa means cooking pan. It is cognate with the Persian word tāve, which is used in Iran, and with the Georgian tapa ; while the name saj and written saç or sac in Turkish is used in Southwest Asia, with overlap in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The word tava is also used in Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Romanian and Turkish and refers to any kind of frying pan. In Serbia and Bulgaria, flat ceramic сач or сачѐ are used for table-top cooking of thin slices of vegetables and meat; тава, on the other hand, are metal baking dishes with sides. In Pashto it is more popularly known as Tabakhey.Uses
A tava or saj is used to bake a variety of leavened and unleavened flatbreads and pancakes across the broad region: pita, naan, saj bread, roti, chapati, paratha, dosa, and pesarattu. In Pakistan, especially in rural areas, large convex saj are used to cook several breads at a same time or to make rumali roti.
