TANDOOR....At "Sadde Punjab Da Sanjha Chulha "

[Pammi Randhawa]

TANDOOR
"The Clay Oven"
THE GREAT INDIAN BARBEQUE

The TANDOOR, which means a Clay Oven, is of great antiquity; a cooking appliance that, either by accident or by design, is extremely efficient and yet simple to make.

HISTORY
Tandoors have been found in excavations of Harappan and pre-Harrapan sites. Where and when the first tandoors existed is still a matter of continuing research. But, generally speaking and because of the generic term `Tandoor´, it is said to have originated in ancient India.
Guru Nanak (AD 1469 - 1539) founded a new religion in Punjab called Sikhism. An important step he took was to bring all people together under the concept of langer. Here, people of all castes sat and ate together. The tandoor was used to its full potential and was able to serve hot, freshly baked bread to many people at a time. The Guru urged people to have common tandoors in their lanes. This not only did away with the concept of high and low caste, it was a great fuel saver. The sanjha chulha or common oven as it was called, proved extremely popular with the womenfolk. It was economical and gave them a common platform to exchange ideas and daily news.
The concept took root quickly and spread all over Punjab and the North-West Frontier Provinces. In many places, the tandoor was lit for all to bake their bread. People of every tone came - caste, creed and color were forgotten. The goal was common: to bake fresh bread for a hungry stomach.
The tandoor held its own just as it had done down the ages. During the Second World War one could get delicious mince-meat seekh kebabs made in the tandoor at Nisbat Road in Lahore. In the frontier areas and Punjab, preparations of meat and fowl like teetar, bater, chicken, all made in the tandoor, were popular.

Tandoori chicken and roti are now world famous. When one stops to think that the appliance we have today is a form of what primitive man might have used, the historic ethos of the tandoor becomes quite amazing.

CONSTRUCTION
The tandoor works on the same princple as the oven. However, it is the only kind of oven that provides complete wrap-around heat. No modern oven has that capability, making the tandoor one of the most scientific and versatile of all cooking apparatus. By controlling the draught and quality of fuel, we are able to produce temperatures up to 400 degrees C. It can be built on site from good clay and uses chopped, dry timber as fuel. Counter sunk and mud plastered, it can be ready for heating in three days. If built of clay, however, it needs six to seven days to dry. The fact remains that you do not have to go anywhere special to make a tandoor, and you can make one wherever you are.


TANDOOR TODAY
In India we have basically two types of tandoors. The small home tandoor and the larger, commercial tandoor. The home clay tandoor is small in size and can accommodate eight to ten rotis at a time. The last few years have seen a major change in the home tandoor. In a major improvisation, the tandoor is now enclosed in a metalic drum. This prevents it from cracking and it can be carried from place to place. Sizes vary from the little ones with a capacity of six to eight rotis to the largest ones that can bake twenty to twenty-five rotis at a time.
Other places where forms of tandoors were and are still used are
Afghanistan, Egypt, China, Iran, Arab Countries, Caucasus and Europe.

Excerpts from "Tandoor - The Great Indian Barbeque" by Ranjit Rai