Hand Hammered Brass Mughlai Handi

Name: Hand Hammered Brass Mughlai Handi
Brand: PEETAL PARAMPARA
SKU: PP-BR-DIN-HAN-001
Price: 6799.0 INR
Availability: InStock

A hammered brass handi with two swinging ring handles and a wide overhanging lid.

Rs. 6,799.00

Rs. 6,799.00 Rs. 9,599.00

Price includes GST.

Weight: 2,500g

Material: Brass, unlacquered inside and out
Finish: Hand hammered over the belly, polished, plain band at the neck
Lining: Tin lined (kalai) inside
Handle: Two flat brass rings hanging from lugs at the shoulder, both free to swing

In the box

1 brass handi
1 brass lid

Check delivery to your PIN code

Estimated, not a guarantee. Dispatched from Guwahati, Monday to Saturday.

Each piece is shaped and finished by hand, so small differences in weight, size, finish and surface marking are normal and no two are identical. Colour on screen can differ from the metal in daylight. Handmade in India.

Two flat brass rings hang from short lugs at the shoulder, so they drop against the belly when nothing is lifting the pot. The hammering runs over the whole belly in overlapping ovals and stops dead at a raised rib, leaving a plain polished band under the neck that takes light differently from the dimpled metal below. The lid is a separate plate rather than a fitted cover, resting on the rim and overhanging it by a finger's width, with a small faceted knob on a turned stem. Under the lid the neck steps in and gives that plate a seat. At 2.5 kg the pot stays put on the table when the lid is lifted off.

Technique

Hand Hammered
Tin Lined

What is it?

A handi is the round-bellied cooking and serving pot of the Indian kitchen, narrow at the neck and wide at the waist so a slow curry holds its heat, and shaped to go from the flame to the table without being decanted.

Also known as a mughlai handi, muglai pot, degchi, peetal handi or biryani pot.

What is in the box?

1 brass handi
1 brass lid

How do I look after it?

The silver lining inside is kalai — a thin coat of tin, applied by hand over heat by a tinsmith called a kalaiwala. Brass reacts with sour food; the kalai is the barrier between the two.
Kalai is not permanent. With regular cooking it wears through in roughly 12 to 15 months — sooner on a high flame, later on a vessel used only for storage or ghee. When brass starts showing through the silver, it is time to have it redone. The vessel itself will outlast you; the coating is a service item, like re-soling a shoe.
Getting it redone: any local kalaiwala can do it, usually for a small charge, usually the same day.
Cook on a low to medium flame. High heat is what strips kalai fastest.
Use wooden or silicone tools. Steel spatulas scratch tin.
Wash by hand with mild soap and a soft sponge, and dry immediately. Never scour the inside.
Clean the outside brass with lemon and salt or tamarind. Keep abrasives off the tinned inside.

How was it made?

Hand Hammered
Tin Lined

Handmade in India

Every piece finished by hand

Solid metal

No plating, nothing to chip

Weighed and listed

In grams, on almost every page

Tin lining stated

Where a vessel is lined, we say so

Questions about this piece

Is this brass solid or plated?

Solid. A plated pot this size would come in at a fraction of 2,500 g, so put it on a kitchen scale the day it arrives and the number settles the question for you.

Will it look exactly like the photograph?

No two come out the same. The hammering is struck by hand, so the pattern of the marks, the width of the plain bands and the depth of the polish all shift a little from one to the next.

Is it tin lined?

Yes. The inside carries a tin coat, the kalai, which is what lets a slow curry sit in brass. It wears thin with use and faster with scouring, and once the grey turns patchy and brass shows through, a pot like this gets re-tinned rather than retired.

Can I keep curd, lemon or pickle in it?

Cook and serve, yes. Store, no. The tin lining is what lets a sour curry sit in brass at all, but it is a thin coat and long standing works at it. Empty the pot after the meal rather than keeping pickle in it.

Can I put it in the dishwasher?

Hand wash only. Dishwasher salts strip the shine off brass and leave it grey and blotchy. Warm water, a soft sponge, then dry it with a cloth before it goes back on the shelf.

Does the lid sit tight?

It rests rather than seals. The lid is a flat plate that overhangs the rim, so steam finds a way out at the edge and the pot works as a serving vessel more than as a sealed cooking pot.

Will the ring handles stay cool?

No. Brass carries heat and the rings hang from lugs fixed to the body, so they warm with the pot. Lift it with a cloth any time it has been near a flame.