The Hindu : New Delhi News : `Degchis' still heavy on pressure cookers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 19, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

`Degchis' still heavy on pressure cookers

BAREILLY, JULY 18. Traditional ``degchis'' are the staple of non-vegetarian cooking as every Muslim bride worth her grain knows.

Tucked away in the pots and pans gifted by her family and friends at the time of her wedding are the round metal pots to win the bride's way into her new family's hearts through the stomach.

Degchis, sizes varying from five kg to 50 kg, are a traditional gift item to daughters in 90 per cent of the ``old'' Muslim families to help them set up their kitchen, giving them a symbolic significance, say metal ware sellers.

Though a bride brings degchis to her new home after marriage, it is not new to the husband's family, having been in use since the old days.

Even though modern pressure cookers have made cooking fast and easy, the traditional ``degchis'' are still preferred in the kitchens for cooking non-vegetarian food, especially mutton.

For the connoisseur, there is no substitute to the flavours, aroma and finger-licking taste of food cooked by the slow ``dum'' style of cooking.

The `dum' style of cooking perfected by the bawarchis and rakabdars of Awadh, who gave birth to the art of cooking over a slow fire in the `degchi', has today become synonymous with Lucknow.

This is evident from the utensil markets in the district which are overflowing with `degchis' in assorted shapes and sizes.

The most famous market of the city, `Bara Bazaar', has umpteen shops selling the traditional `degchis' and the shopkeepers claim that these have never been out of favour.

Irshad Hussain, who has been running a more than century-old metalware shop in the area, has himself sold 'degchis' for the past 50 years after he took over the business from his forefathers.

The traditional metal pots are most preferred by those who relish non-vegetarian food, he says.

Foods have history in Lucknow city, which is famous for its tehzeeb and chikan embroidery.

Living like a nawab, savouring everything was a preoccupation in the erstwhile province of Awadh or Oudh.

The richness of the Awadh cuisine lay not only in the variety of cuisine, but also in the ingredients used and the method of cooking. Elaborate dishes like kebabs, kormas, kaliya, Nahari-kulchas, zarda, sheermal, roomali rotis and warqi parathas were just a part of the sumptuous spread savoured by the nawabs.

To please their employers, the ingenious bawarchis and rakabdars virtually created a baking oven and a pressure cooker with the simplest of cooking implements. The mutton or non-vegetarian item was partially cooked before hand, put in a pot and the cover sealed with atta (dough) to capture the moisture within the food as it simmered over a charcoal fire till tender, albeit, retaining its juiciness. Coals were also placed on the lid to ensure even cooking.

Like the Indian chefs of yore, today's cook first adds the main ingredients like rice or vegetables or meats or all three with spices, herbs, seasonings, saffron, tomato and lets the food continue to cook in its own steam. She is careful to ensure that the dish retains its flavour and aroma. The slow cooking creates food fit for a king or nawab.

The Indian biryani is one of the most popular dum dishes, through it can also be cooked in a pressure cooker, the latter does not evoke the same delight as food cooked in the degchi.

According to Mr Hussain, the `degchis' are in total contrast to the pressure cookes in which food gets cooked within minutes whereas in `degchis' it takes a non-vegetarian dish about two to three hours to get properly cooked. Moreover, the food is cooked over a sim flame in the heavy copper and brass `degchis' but importantly it does not stick to the sides of the pot and remains hot for a longer time.

Mr. Hussain states that the non-vegetarian food lovers swear by the unique aroma and taste of the food cooked in `degchis' which they claim can never be achieved by 10 minutes of cooking in pressure cookers.

These families do not fully shun the pressure cooker, which has begun to make inroads into Muslim households. The cooker is used on the liquefied petroleum gas stove while the degchis are put over a wooden flame. Mr. Hussain says that `degchis' are used even in five-star hotels as the slow and uniform cooking cannot be replicated by the cooker. However, in the hotels they are not kept over a wooden flame but a large-size LPG burner.

He says the `degchis' are more popular among the Muslim community where sales increase during the wedding season from March to June. These are then gifted to the brides as part of their household items during marriages.

Another reason for the preference for copper and brass cooking wares over the steel and aluminium ones is that the former is believed to be good for health, Mr. Hussain adds.

Rashid Mohammed, another metal ware businessmen, claims that he sells `degchis' worth Rs 50,000-60,000 from March to June in a year.

Though the capacity of these metal ware ranges from one kg to 50 kg, the most preferred ones are those of 25 kg for parties and that of 5-10 kg in average families.

The price of the pots used mostly to prepare `biryanis' range between Rs 200 and Rs 4,000.

Mr Hussain says the `degchis', manufactured in factories located at Moradabad, Jagadhari, Farukkhabad and Lucknow, were sold all over the country. --UNI

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