Monday, 14 March 2016

Evolution of cookware in India from the 20th Century to 21st Century

Evolution of cookware in India from the 20th Century to 21st Century

Food is always valued higher in the multi-cultural land of mystic India. It is often given the status of God and is considered as a blessing from the almighty. Hence, anyone who serves food is called “Annapurna”, the God of food in India.
Although, Indians are fond of all types of cuisines, thanks to our culturally diverse nation, most of us also enjoy cooking and take it very seriously when it comes to prepare tasty Indian as well as foreign delicacies.
Now, if you are a chef or someone who enjoys cooking at home, then you must know that if you don’t have the right cookware set, cooking your favorite cuisine becomes hectic. Today, with the high quality modern cookware sets offered by well-known brands such as Wonderchef, cooking has become a lot easier than what it used to be in the 20th century.
However, many traditional khansama still use those ancient clay handi or tava, to cook authentic traditional food just to preserve the taste.



Today, we have highly efficient non-stick cookware set, but in the 20th century things were different.
Most of the households in the 20th century relied on copper or brass cookware for cooking. Such cookware was hardly purchased by the households as it was a trend among those todays to pass on the cooking utensils over to the new generation. Owing to its high durability, stability and long lasting nature, copper or brass cookware can be used effectively for generations.



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The only flaw in using this cookware was that it consumed a lot of time while preparing food. Also, after regular use of this cookware, these utensils also start looking duller and older with time. Hence, over time as our lives got busier and tiring, new age stainless steel cookware took its place as they looked more shiny and classy as well as it won the hearts of the new upcoming generation.
Aluminum cookware was also widely used among households, who couldn’t afford costly brass, copper or stainless steel cookware. The poorest households highly relied on aluminium or clay cookware to prepare food during the 20th century.




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Stainless steel cookware set was also considered elite in the Indian society for its beauty and shiny nature. While the early 20th century was dominated by copper or brass utensils, the stainless cookware took over the kitchen all over the country by the late 20th century.



Stainless steel cookware innovated with copper base, in order to add the benefits of copper while cooking, are still widely used in the country even in the 21st century. However, the modern day non-stick cookware such as non-stick tava and kadhai are the hot favorites among households in the 21st century.
This modern day non-stick cookware set are made using a coating of Teflon as it offers several unique properties such as good corrosion-resistance and the lowest coefficient of friction, that not only makes cooking simpler but also faster.

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Because of the busy lifestyle, modern day working woman opts for cookware that helps in easy cooking, which saves them a lot of time. Also, these modern day cookware sets from brands like Wonderchef also include casserole set that helps preserve and keep the food hot and steamy for longer time, hence avoiding the need to heat the food again and again if it’s served late.

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Also, these cookware sets are very light in weight, hence they are easy to move and store in the kitchen or while moving houses. Most importantly, being non-stick Teflon coated cookware, they also consume less oil while cooking, which offers great health advantage, something that was missing in the cookware used in the 20th century.
Although, I believe comparing the cookware of the 20th century with 21st century would be wrong, the evolution of cookware in India between two different centuries cannot be ignored. Cooking styles may have altered a bit here and there, but there’s of course a revolutionary change in the cookware we use today from what was used during the 20th century.





3 comments:

  1. The lagostina pots have various family unit employments. In some parts of the world, a clay pot is a critical kitchen utilize thing. Then again, the greater part of pot clients need them for moving plants to another point. They likewise sow seeds in the pots. More Information

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  2. Don't waste your money on these pans. they work for a few weeks, but after that you'll be using more and more oil to keep food from sticking. Eventually even the oil won't help. One of the worst kitchen utensils I ever bought. 

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  3. I've been cooking peppers and onions in the skillet on the grill a lot lately. I'll have to add jalapenos next time. Yum. I like cooking bacon that way too, although hot fat + open flame adds a nice element of danger. I used to get flank steak, but my husband got me to try the carne asada cut from our local market, and I prefer it. Not sure if it's thin-cut flank or skirt (I'll have to ask), but it looks like this 

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