Hand Hammered Brass Patila, 400 g

Name: Hand Hammered Brass Patila, 400 g
Brand: PEETAL PARAMPARA
SKU: PP-BR-DIN-PAT-021
Price: 2099.0 INR
Availability: InStock

A hammered brass patila with a wide flat flange rim and a matte grey interior.

Rs. 2,099.00

Price includes GST.

Weight: 400g

Material: Brass, unlacquered outside
Finish: Hand hammered, polished outside
Lining: Tin lined (kalai) inside
Rim: Wide flat flange running out from the mouth, matte grey on top
In the box: 1 brass patila

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.

The flange runs out flat from the mouth by about a finger's width, all the way round, and the matte grey of the inside carries up over it, so the rim reads dull from above while the wall below is bright gold. Hammering covers that wall in rows of broad flat facets that flatten out as they reach the base. There is no handle, no lid and no pouring lip, so the pot comes off the flame in a cloth held at that flange.

Technique

Hand Hammered
Tin Lined

What is it?

A patila is the deep straight-sided pot milk is set to boil in, lidless and handleless, with a flange at the mouth wide enough to be gripped through a cloth when the pot has to come off the flame.

Also known as a tope, topia, bhagona, degchi or peetal patila.

What is in the box?

1 brass patila

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. The facets are struck into the sheet and show on both faces of the wall, which a plating would not survive, and 400 g is a figure your own scale can settle.

Will it look exactly like the photograph?

No two come out the same. The facets are struck by hand and the grey inside is wiped on by hand, so the rows of marks and the clouding of the surface differ from one pot to the next.

Is it tin lined?

Yes. The inside is tin lined, which is what makes the patila a cooking pot rather than a serving one. Keep steel wool away from it and do not heat it empty.

Can I keep curd, lemon or pickle in it?

Boil milk or dal in it and pour it out. The tin lining copes with sour food while it is cooking; it is the standing that wears the coat. Nothing should sit in the patila overnight.

Can I put it in the dishwasher?

Hand wash only. Dishwasher heat and salts pull the shine off brass and take tin off faster still. Warm water, a soft sponge, no steel scrubber, and dry the flange before it goes on a shelf.

Does it come with a lid?

No. The pot ships on its own, with no lid, no handle and no spout. A plate laid over the flange works the way it always has in an Indian kitchen if you need to hold the heat in.