The potter’swheel has always brought a sense of mystic bewilderment. The way those defthands shape delicate smooth wet earth over the spinning wheel and then how thedried earthen pots are fired at high temperature to become tough to handlewhatever comes their way. Some of those pots end up storing water and someoverflow with billowing froth of lentils being cooked over wood fired chulhas.Some of the decorative pots are used to set yogurt and some others are filled withsyrupy rasgullas to be taken as gifts to friends and relatives.
I wastalking to a potter from Azamgarh who had come to showcase his wares atConstitution Hall in Delhi, and realized that the potters also have ‘seasons’for the kind of pots they make. During the wedding season in India they are busymaking Kalash and various shapes of Handis and Sakoras (shallow bowls) beingused for wedding rituals, the Matkas for holding water, pots for growingplants, Chai Kulhads and Dahi Handis are made all thorough the year at a slowrate as these have a lukewarm but assured market demand. The urban markets have now started demandingfor teacups, kettles, Kadhais and casserole dishes and the potters have startedexperimenting with new finish, smooth glaze and decorative patterns. I am gladthe earthen pots are coming back to our kitchens with a new fervor.
Theconversation with this potter from Azamgargh started when I voiced my doubtabout the shiny black colour his terra cotta teacups. I asked what glaze or painthe uses for ‘coloring’ the teacups black and whether the color is safe forkitchen utensils. That is when he introduced me with the technique he uses.After the terracotta teacups are fired till they become fully baked and strong,the potters smoke the furnace by adding dried leaves, the smoke and soot coatsthe pots and gets baked once again, making the pots look sooty black. Mustradoil is smeared on the pots after firing and smoking, a second round of firing fixes the blackcolour and become shiny. Nevertheless, the potter charmed me with his beautifullymade black teacups. He assured me that every cup of tea will taste like you arehaving kulhad wali chai and you can keep washing the cup like any other ceramicor glass cups.
Later I gotto know that Azamgarh black pottery is little known but a technique to preserveand to be encouraged. They make beautiful decorative vases and filigree likepatterns on pots.
It feelsgood to see the potters innovating with the type of utensils they make. The teasets, decorative platters, bowls and dishes have now become style statementsand the potters are catching up the trend slowly as they get demand of suchstylish utensils even from some fancy restaurants.
We are privileged to see thepotters still around, spinning life into wet clay. But some of the potters Imeet thanks to my passion to collect terra cotta pots, are really poor and arelooking for other options to earn their livelihood. I met another potter inTijara (Alwar, Rajasthan) who embroiders dresses along with making pots to meetends, he kept requesting me to find a job in Delhi all the while, pottery onits own is insufficient to meet ends for him. Tejaswini Foundation helps thesepotters from Tijara by taking their utensils to urban markets and getting themsome profit but more such efforts are required.
Thankfullythere are some potters who are making enough money to keep going. The Longpipottery from Manipur is beautiful. This black pottery is known to be made witha mix of a black stone powder and clay, the pots are shaped and fired the sameway as terra cotta pots and is breakable too. It doesn’t mean these utensilsare delicate. One can use them over gas stoves, microwaves and conventionalovens just like Borosilicate and Corning glass utensils, taking sameprecautions to protect them. Longpi pottery is interesting in the way thepotters from Manipur have devised new shapes and sizes from this pottery.
Sweet potato hash browns in Manipu Longpi pan
Theymake baking trays, beautiful kettles, tea cups and beer mugs, bowls and plates,salad bowls and serving platters apart from their traditional pots and evendecorate the edges or handles using cane weaving. Such beautiful and cook, bakeand serve type of utensils are becoming more and more popular with urbanconsumers and finding a place of pride on the dining table.
The educatedpotters of Manipur have already made a place in the trendy kitchenware sectionand Longpi pottery is available even on some e-commerce websites. I am hopefulfor the potters from other parts of the country as well, they have at least notdiscontinued making earthen pots.
Anotherinteresting place to find exquisite pottery is Gundiyali, a potters’ village inKutch region of Gujrat. The potters of this village have been making the samedesigns of pottery since 5000 years apparently as the same designs of pots wereexcavated from Hadappa and Mohenjodaro too. Interestingly the potters not onlyuse the spinning wheel to make perfectly shaped pots, but they also use atechnique called Ghadayi where they gently beat the half made Matka (Ghada orround pot for water storage) from outside using a flat wooden disc with ahandle.
The potters are so adept that they make perfect round Matka using thisGhadayi technique with their hands.
I have witnessed this Ghadayi technique inUttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujrat to make large Matkas, while the smallerutensils are made on the potters’ wheel completely.
The pottersfrom some more areas of Kutch have found a way to make pots and pans suited formodern kitchens too and they are marketing their wares almost all overIndia. Mitticool website is from Kutchpotters and sells various types of kitchen and dining utensils made of Terracotta. Some unorganized potters from Kutch region make beautiful water bottleswith lid, water jugs, insulated casseroles and dinner sets too. Even a Tawa(griddle) with handle and a metal base has started making waves among those wholove using Terra cotta pots. Kutch potters are also known for the beautifulintricate painting they do on the pots, much like the Kutchi embroidery.
Baingan ka bharta and bajre ki roti with kanji pickle
Kerala isalso known for the earthenware Chattis (pans) they use for cooking everydayfish and prawn curries. Kerala remains one of those places where common peopledid not stop cooking in earthenware pots although it became less frequent inthe modern kitchens.
Thanks toour festivals and religious rituals that have helped survive the profession ofa potter in the country. Potters all over the country make diyas for Diwalievery year and bring them to markets to sell. I remember the Kuldevta pooja inour ancestral home where there was a mandatory practice to cook the Prasad inearthen pots over wood fired chulhas. The village kumhar would be summoned tomake specific sizes and shapes of the pots to fill water, milk and ghee and onekadhai in which the Prasad was deep fried in cow ghee.
I am sure other familiesand communities had similar pooja rituals and the Kumhar’s art survived due tothis constant demand of earthen pots throughout the year apart from the surgein the demand during wedding season of the calendar. Of course there was Durgapooja, Ganesh puja and several other festivals when the Kumhars would makeidols of Gods and Goddesses for worship. Interestingly these idols would beimmersed in the nearest water bodies after the festival is over. Imagine thefine sedimentary soil is collected from dried up ponds to make such idols whichare immersed into another water body after the worship rituals are over. Wehave a theory of being born of panchtatva and getting merged with panchtatvaafter death in this country and these earthen idols follow the same path. Apotter’s work is enchanting indeed.
Banarasi chooda matar served with chai : earthen pots make a difference
The new ageterra cotta pottery could help revive the potters better and bring betterprofits to them. The terracotta teapots and cups that we use for our everydaychai are a lot better than bone china and ceramic or even glass tumblers. Thesedimentary soil that is used for making terra cotta pots is a renewableresource and making of the pots doesn’t burden the environment with toxicchemicals and pollutants and if one is concerned about the cost of terra cottautensils and their longevity, they are mostly similarly priced as mid levelceramic or glass tableware. Life span of a terra cotta tea cup or a handi canbe as good as a glass utensil, the breakage and chipping as easy as any otherbreakable tableware. Just take care to buy well fired earthenware.
Terra cottapots are great for dum cooking technique. One can bake everything In terracotta trays and even curries can be cooked well. Once heated the terra cottapots need lesser flame heat to keep cooking. In Kerala people line the chattywith banana leaf to slow cook food in minimal oil, in urban kitchens the terracotta pans can be lined with aluminum foil if required. In earlier days eachpot was filled with water for a few days so the pores are filled with someminerals found in drinking water, then the pot is used for cooking. This waythe pots do not absorb the aroma of foods being cooked in it. Indian Daal,Kheer, Saag etc cook really well in Handis and people use to look forward tofood cooked in them during picnics in earlier days.
To cleanthe earthen pots after cooking or serving food, just rinse them with waterfirst and then use a hard sponge with diluted liquid detergent or soap nutpowder before rinsing them thoroughly with running water. Let them drycompletely in sun before storing them away for next use. No need to sun thepots if they are being used every day. In modern kitchens one can heat thecleaned pots in the oven till the water dries up.
So when youplan to make some rustic Daal or Saag next time try and get a Handi and spend acouple of hours cooking for the family. The Mitti ka Tawa makes the besttasting millet Rotis you have tasted and that too in the comfort of your ownmodern kitchen.
Recipe of Rajasthanikhatta saag cooked in earthen Matka
(recipe by Sneh Yadav)
ingredients
1 kilo mixedgreens of Spinach, Mustard, Bathua (Chenopodium) and some Beet leaves etc
60 gm greengarlic leaves or chives (or use chopped garlic)
100 gm sourcurds
Salt totaste
Finelychopped ginger and green chillies to taste
procedure
Wash, cleanand drain all the leafy greens and chop them roughly.
Chop thegarlic greens finely.
Add all thegreens to the cooking Matka along with 500 ml water and cook covered for 10minutes on high flame. Then lower the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes.
Whisk theyogurt and add to the cooking saag. Now mash the cooking saag using a woodenmathani (churner). Cook more till the saag becomes mushy but not too smooth.
Add theminced ginger and green chillies. Mix well and cover. Switch the gas stove offand let the pot sit for another 10 minutes before serving.
Serve hotwith miller rotis, some raw onions and some fresh white butter over the saag.
A truncated version of this article was published in Down to Earth magazine.
