Indian sweets garnished with varkha |
|
| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Alternative name(s) | (वर्ख). Other corrupted pronounciations are like varak, varakh, varakha etc. |
| Place of origin | India |
| Region or state | North India |
| Dish details | |
| Main ingredient(s) | silver |
| Other information | food garnish |
Vark, Varak, Varakh or Varkh, Varq (Hindi: वर्ख [ʋəɾkʰ]) is any foil / layer of very pure, typically silver, used for garnishing Indian sweets. The silver is edible, though flavorless. Large quantities of ingested elemental silver can cause argyria, but the use of vark is not considered harmful to the body, since the quantities involved in normal use are minuscule.[1] This however is only true as long as the foil contains only high purity silver. One study has found that about 10% of the foils found in the Indian market were made of aluminium. Of the tested foils, 46% of the samples were found to have the desired purity requirement of 99.9% silver, whereas the rest of the 54% were substandard with some even containing toxic cadmium.[2]
Vark is made by pounding silver into a sheet a few micrometres thick, and backed with paper for support; this paper is peeled away before use. It is extremely brittle and breaks into smaller pieces if touched. Vark sheets are laid or rolled over Indian sweets made from dates, nuts and various fruit and vegetable based rolls or sheet candies.
Vegetarian lobbyists claim that vark is hammered between layers of animal fat or hide and is thus a non-vegetarian product. However, there are certain vegetarian options of vark available in markets.[1] Like silver vark also there is gold leaf, gold flakes and gold dust made from gold.
Many varakh artisans are Muslim, such as the famed edible silver shopkeepers and hammerers of Hyderabad. Thus, the word may be derived from the Arabic waraq (ورق), meaning paper or paper-like.