Discover Top Posts Tagged with #miniature pots

My clay things.

Two years back, I decided to stop using aluminium and teflon coated utensils for preparing food. They weren't the best choice for making a healthy meal. I found the alternative in these lovely earthen pots. They are locally made and don't harm the environment in the way aluminium mining does. Maybe it is just an excuse for using these long forgotten cooking tools. After all, giving up on aluminium consumption in the kitchen doesn't mean I am not using aluminium elsewhere in my everyday life. And I still use ceramic coated utensils which has a metal base...probably an aluminium alloy. But I am sure it still must make a difference!

The black ones are traditional Tankhul* pottery and are called Nungbi. The are supposed to be made out of asbestos, which is ground and mixed with clay. I haven't done a thorough research on it yet so I will update on it later.

This one is a nungbi that I got from Manipur. It was probably made in Ukhrul**. I use it to make pork and don't use it for cooking vegetarian dishes, especially for vegetarians.

This is a bigger pot of the same design as the earlier one. The broken rim is not a design element in either of them and is just a coincidence. Perhaps it is a flaw in this design which makes it break at the same place. I use this bigger pot for cooking a larger portion of pork.

This one is a newbie. I inaugurated it with pork a few weeks ago so it will also have to go in the pork section. But, I might just move it to the chicken section. Since, my last one developed cracks.

This one is for my Mom. Meaning that it is used for only vegetarian and fish dishes. My Mom is a fish-itarian and that is regarded as being vegetarian in my culture!

This is the only pot that I have which is not nungbi. I don't know if it is just plain terracotta or something else. I had picked it up from Dilli Haat, one of the craft bazaars in Delhi. I use it exclusively for making biryani as the spices used for biryani doesn't go well with the way I usually cook meats. The smell of the spices get infused in it since earthen pots are porous.

This is a nungbi but it was picked up from Dilli Haat too. It is different from the earlier nungbi pots as it was made in Delhi not Manipur. The clay to asbestos ratio is much higher in it due to the unavailability of asbestos in Delhi. Because of its shape, this pot is not suitable for cooking meat. So, I usually cook kangsoi***, stir fry or other vegetarian and fish dishes in it.

This is another nungbi from Dilli Haat. I usually use it to heat up pre-roasted fish or toast spices.

And this is how I use them when they develop cracks and start leaking....as flower pots.

Since you've read through my show-off post so far...here is a treat....another show-off. I have been collecting miniature pots for a long long time now. Ain't they cute?

Focusing on the last row of pots.

My latest favourite!

*A tribe of Manipur.

**A district in Manipur.

***A traditional Manipuri dish made by boiling vegetables with fermented fish and/or smoke roasted fish.

#earthen pots #miniature pots #cooking