Clay cooking also reduces cooking fuel costs by 50%, allowing families who could not afford to cook with gas or electricity an affordable method of providing nutritious food for their children.
Clay pots are inexpensive compared with electric appliances or Western-style ceramic cookware, making them accessible for all socioeconomic classes across India because Indian culture includes large extended family.
Clay pots are also useful for serving food. They keep the food hot for a long time, so guests may serve themselves as much as they like without holding up dinner service. The porous clay absorbs flavour from previous meals, which adds richness to each new dish prepared in them.
When using moist foods such as soupy lentils or stews, you should slightly increase cooking time because the water takes longer to heat through the thick walls of the pot. At high altitudes, where water boils at lower temperatures, cookers can be filled with cold water and brought slowly to a boil over the course of two hours instead of 45 minutes on a stovetop at sea level.
Also called “handis,” these traditional utensils make a lovely presentation when serving Indian food.