Do you also love the aroma of sizzling tadka on a dal or get excited on hearing the soft whistle of a pressure cooker? These little instances have a strong impact on my mind. Not only this, but there are also several other things one sees in an Indian kitchen. But as the time has passed, we could hardly experience such things, and this is due to many reasons.
We often stay in rush and want to wrap up our cooking as soon as possible. And this is why, we have slightly shifted towards modern cooking. We have replaced our traditional tools with modern kitchen equipment. This piece is dedicated to some of the old and traditional kitchen tools that we hardly get to see these days.
Sil Batta
The OG chutney maker of India is sil batta. Sil is a flat stone slab while batta is a cylindrical tool which does the grinding. This tool use to make some delicious chutneys that our modern grinders can never make. One has to place the herbs on the sil and grind it with batta while pushing it with to and fro movements.
Khal Batta
This tool that we know as mortar pestle is used to pound dry condiments to intensify the flavour and aroma of the ingredient. Remember using this tool before making adrak wali chai?? Earlier, the mortar was made up of stone while the pestle was made up of stone or wood. It is still used in some of the households for pounding garlic-ginger, green chilies, black pepper corns, or cardamoms etc. but many people have shifted to mixers and grinders.
Mathni
Mathni or churner is an old school muddler which was found in almost every household. Originally made of wood, mathni has a long handle and a circular base with gaps wide enough for air to circulate. Traditionally used for churning butter milk, this tool has now taken a modern form but the old remains to be the gold.
Coconut Scraper
Most commonly found in South Indian households, this tool is a saviour. This uniquely designed contraption can grate the coconut insides without the struggle of removing the shell. It has a circular blade that does the scrapping. Do you have this game changing tool at your home??
Kal Chatti
Also known as stone pot, this is one of the commonly used utensils in Kerala for cooking. Made up of a type of metamorphic rock, this utensil gives an amazing flavour to fish curries, sambars and aviyal. This stone pot is seasoned with hot rice water a few days before cooking to prevent the pot from cracking on high flame.
So, what do you think? Do you still have these utensils at your home or not? Do let us know!