A domestic wooden implement historically used for making wheat noodles (sev), sev ni paat (Gujarati: paat, ‘plank’, for sev) is a form of vernacular furniture in Gujarat in western India. 

Design and construction

The sev ni paat comprises a long narrow plank on either face of which a shorter plank is attached using hinges. When unfolded it takes the form of a staggered ‘X’, loosely resembling a low chair. Across the top surface of the long plank, on one end, is a set of shallow, closely spaced grooves. The short wing facing these serves as a seat, sometimes furnished with a cushion. To make the noodles, a person seated on the short wing rubs a lump of dough across the grooved surface, causing some of the dough to accumulate between the grooves; with subsequent strokes, this is extruded from both sides as sev. The object ranges may be simple or intricately carved.

Photograph of a wooden sev ni paat at the Devgadh Baria palace
Sev ni paat; Dahod, Gujarat, India. Courtesy DICRC & SADACC, and Vernacular Furniture of North-West India

Ownership and use

The sev ni paat was traditionally used by women of the household to prepare large quantities of sun-dried sev. Typically at least three women were required for the process. One kneaded the dough across the paat while seated on it, and the others collected the extruded sev and spread it out on a cloth to dry in the sun. These might then be boiled and served with castor sugar and ghee (clarified butter) as a traditional Gujarati delicacy. 

This article is adapted from the outcomes of Vernacular Furniture of North-West India — a collaborative research and documentation project by the Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC), CEPT University, India, and The South Asian Decorative Art and Crafts Collection Trust (SADACC), UK — shared with the Encyclopedia of Art through an Impart partnership. Explore more from this series in our Collection Objects Alive: Vernacular Furniture of North-West India.