Agra students claim world record for 'bedai'

Agra, March 23 (IANS) Students of Agra University's Tourism and Hotel Management Institute have claimed a new world record for making a 'bedai', a spicy snack made of fine flour with a stuffing of lentils and spices.

'We have succeeded in making a 3.5 foot x 3.5 foot bedai. It is slightly different from a kachori due to its ingredients and filling. Plus it is eaten with aloo ki subzi (potato curry) full of spices and sizzling hot. We will now try to get it into the Guinness World Records,' institute director Lavkush Mishra told IANS.

The bedai was made on March 20 in the Khandari campus of the Agra University.

A team of ten students led by their teachers worked on the project for a while and then arranged for a special frying pan and then prepared the mixture of urad daal (pulses)and spices.

Aakriti Saxena, one of the students, told IANS: 'No, too many cooks did not spoil the show. We had a definite plan laid out. We got a big pan from a halwai. There were whole lot of hassles. At first I and other friends thought it was impossible, but once we got on the job there was no looking back. You should have seen the excitement and the joy when the Bedai was cut into pieces and 50 of us ate it with steaming aloo ki subzi. Oh what a feeling!'

Apart from the faculty the team included Priti Singh, Pragya Pandey, Rakesh Sharma, Imran, Alvina, Ankit Dube, K.K. Bhatia, Swati Upadhyay, Rani Lavania, Ajay lavania, Israr Ahmad, Ms. Shelvi Chib, Ms. Sonal kotwal, Deep Kumar, Anurag Mishra, Shikha manna, Bijendra Singh, Amir Maqubul Raina, Amit, Ehsan Ul Haq, Arpit Gupta and Saukat Ali.

The students were excited about the outcome. They now intend perfecting the process and aim for a slightly bigger bedai. 'We have records for dosas, vadas and other dishes, but no one tried the bedai,' a student said.

Ankit Dube, a student, said: 'We enjoyed the thrill of making something so unique and so big. We were actually trying to make a bigger one but it was breaking. We also made the biggest paranthas. For record sake the exercise has been documented and recorded, but for our own satisfaction we will continue to experiment till we attain perfection.'