Utensils: A Peep Into Street Food Kitchens

 A large, deep, and heavy-based pot made from metal or clay used for cooking large quantities of food, such as curries, stews, and rice dishes. 

 A traditional Indian mortar and pestle, crafted from metal or stone, is a staple in every kitchen. It is essential for pounding spices and other ingredients, creating the pastes and spice mixtures.

A mortar and pestle in stone

A pair of  long metal rods used to safely handle and remove breads from a tandoor.

A deep, circular pan with high sides used for deep frying and sautéing. 

A large, flat griddle traditionally made of cast iron or metal, used for shallow frying.

Eco-friendly leaf plates stapled with fine bamboo needles, used for serving food. They are a testament to sustainable and traditional food practices.

Large, flat, multi-purpose tray.

Sil Batta is a flat grinding slab with a cylindrical or triangular grinding stone. They are used to crush spices, herbs, and meats into fine pastes or powders, essential for many traditional dishes.

A small, cushioned pad used by the nanbai (baker) to stick the roti on the hot wall of the tandoor.

 A cylindrical clay or metal oven, essential in Indian cooking for baking bread and roasting meats. It cooks food at high temperatures, giving a distinct, smoky flavor, characteristic of tandoori dishes.

A traditional balance scale used for measuring spices and other ingredients. It has two pans suspended from a horizontal bar, balanced on a central pivot, ensuring precise measurements.

Weights from early 20th century.

Seer weights from India, early 1900s, used before the introduction of the Indian metric system in 1958  

An inverted griddle specifically for making large, thin breads like roomali roti. The convex surface cooks the bread, giving it its unique, signature shape.