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Tandoor losing out to modern gadgets Amritsar, Oct 26: The "tandoor" or traditional clay oven, an integral part of any north Indian kitchen, is fast losing out to modern cookwares. In north Indian cuisine, thick Roti or pan cake made of wheat flour, is baked by pasting them to the inner wall of the oven. In Mughal preparations also tandoors play an integral part to roast lamb and chicken and also vegetable grills. Traditional artisans shape the barrel shaped klin by moulding clay. With the dwindling demand only a few families are engaged in making tandoors. "Now only 20-25 families are into this profession as work is less. It is because of the use of gas that the tandoors (ovens) are sold very less. In hotels as well, they are using electronic gases or ovens, so our sales have gone down," Preet Singh, a tandoor maker, said. Ramneek Kaur, a first-generation oven-maker, said the earnings from the trade did not match the effort. "The tandoor takes four days to get prepared. If we calculate then we do not earn even 10 rupees a day and the buyers also come once in many days. We get, on an average, one buyer in 10 days and then also only one house gets to earn," Kaur said. While the time-consuming traditional oven is on the way out, its modern versions are thriving. "The microwaves (ovens) and the cooking ranges are much less polluting, are smoke-free, whereas the traditional tandoors are heavily polluting. Secondly, they are time consuming while these offer convenient cooking. It saves time for people who are always in a rush," Deependra Singh, a customer, said. Modern microwave ovens are no match for clay tandoor that can produce extreme temperatures ranging upto 400 - 700 degrees Centigrade. However, as India surges ahead on the back of a consumerist economy, the future of good old tandoor - fuel efficient, fast and mobile - looks doomed.
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