Utility and Life of Clay Cookware

1. Be it varieties of south Indian dishes like mor kuzhambu, vatha kuzhambu, kara kuzhambu, milagu kuzhambu, regular sambhar, avial, keerai masiyal, molakootu, vegetable kootu, tomato pappu, gothsu, rasam etc
2. Or be it north Indian dishes like Palak paneer, paneer butter masala, rajma masala, dal makhani, dal tadka, biryani, aloo masala, kadi etc.
3. Or several types of non-vegetarian food including fish and chicken and more.

Benefits of cooking in clay ware

Health benefits: Clay releases Iron, Calcium & Magnesium to food which are essential minerals for our body. Additionally, delta region clay are rich in bio-minerals.  Tasty & nutritious food: porous nature of clay allows heat to circulate uniformly and retains nutrition. It retains 95-97% of the nutrients of the food cooked in it. The taste of the food also enhances.  No acidity & easy to digest: Alkaline nature of clay interacts with acidity in food and neutralises it.  Best for Acidic food: One of the best vessels to cook acidic food like tamarind or citrus based food as it is resistant to acids & alkalis.  Lesser oil usage due to heat resistance & slow cooking.  Convenience - saving of fuel & cooking time: cooks food in 15% lesser time than modern cookware. Food continues to boil for 3-5 minutes after the stove is switched off.  Safe: Good quality clay are natural, from the earth, with no harmful chemicals.

When should you change your clay cook ware?

Clay cookware needs to be changed once in 1-3 years depending on the extent of usage as clay loses its properties. How do you know that it is time to change your clay cookware? Here are some ways:

1. If clay cookware starts to have minor leakages, or if food starts to get burnt it means that there is a crack developed due to usage.
2. The enhancement of taste & aroma becomes obviously less and it is time to change the clay.