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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
6 Min
28/01/2026
There are two classic ways of cooking in local kitchens, which have their own kinds of magic – the earthen clay pot and the hissing pressure cooker. Both make delicious meals but are rooted in different faiths, almost like Veer-Zaara of the utensil world. One leans into tradition, coaxing out deep flavours that taste like history itself; meanwhile, the other is the quicker superhero, turning raw lentils and stubborn meats tender in record time.
Walk into any Indian kitchen and you’ll likely find a well-seasoned clay handi used to make specific dishes, and the trusted pressure cooker that's become as essential as a BFF. Beyond the way the food cooks within them, they provide a choice between using the old-school ‘chulha’ style cooking versus making a dish quicker with the efficient pressure cooker. Both are good, and both have their own places. Here’s the lowdown.
Clay pots date back to the Indus Valley Civilisation, one of the world's earliest urban cultures. It is no surprise that it percolated down to Indians who have been using it for thousands of years. Known by different names – handi in the north (Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan) and manchatti or mitti satti in the south (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana) – these unglazed earthen vessels are 100% eco-friendly, free of toxic materials, and handcrafted by local artisans. Back in the day, clay pots were present in almost every household, handed down from generation to generation. To this day, in rural areas and villages, food is still prepared in handis.
The science behind clay pots is simple – the porous nature of earthenware allows for slow and even cooking while retaining natural juices in food. This causes flavours of all ingredients to slowly blend, creating fuller flavours and enhanced aroma. Clay pots can circulate steam throughout cooking, which provides plenty of moisture – meaning less use of oil and fat. The thick bottom ensures high-quality food, and clay pots are suitable for simmering, slow cooking, frying, baking, and boiling.
Food cooked in clay is widely considered to acquire an earthy taste from the pot. In test after test, everything cooked in clay tasted better than the same recipes cooked in metal pans. This isn't just nostalgia – clay adds subtle mineral notes that enhance rather than overpower.
The alkaline nature of clay lowers the acidic content of food, making it easier on the stomach and helping to neutralise the pH balance. This provides significant relief from acidity problems. Food cooked in clay pots retains nutrition and minerals, including calcium, magnesium, iron, and phosphorus. Unlike metal cookware, clay is free of any toxic materials or lead and won't leach chemicals into your food.
Clay cooking requires patience and care. Before first use, pots need to be seasoned by soaking in water for several hours (or overnight), then rubbing with oil or garlic, and sometimes baking. Clay cookware is only suitable for gas stoves on low heat, not preferred for induction. Never clean clay pots in the dishwasher – hand wash only with lemon and hot water, no soap. Some prefer to maintain separate clay pots for different dishes to avoid flavour transfer.
Pressure cookers entered Indian kitchens fully in the mid-20th century, revolutionising cooking by making it faster and more efficient. They were initially marketed to urban middle-class families who had access to gas stoves and were looking for ways to save time.
A predecessor appeared even earlier – Indumadhab Mallick from West Bengal invented the ICMIC steam cooker in 1910, which stacked ingredients in tiffin-like containers and cooked them with steam from charcoal. By the 1960s, the cult of pressure cookers began to grow. Hawkins became a symbol of progress and development.
An advertisement in 1990s India for Prestige pressure cooker had a jingle – ‘Jo biwi se kare pyaar, woh Prestige se kaise kare inkaar’ that translates to – ‘someone who loves his wife can't say no to Prestige’. As women joined the workforce with little time to cook, pressure cookers changed everything by reducing cooking time by half. Pressure cookers are so essential that many Indians living abroad lug their pressure cookers with them wherever they go.
Pressure cookers work by expelling air from the vessel and trapping steam produced from boiling liquid, raising internal pressure to one atmosphere above ambient and giving cooking temperatures between 100-121°C. The high pressure raises the boiling point of water, so food can cook about 4°C hotter than on a stovetop, which is why it cooks faster.
Cooking times can typically be reduced to one-third of the time for conventional cooking methods. Pressure cookers often cut cooking times by two-thirds, making them especially useful for dishes like black beans and brown lentils that otherwise require substantial time on the stovetop. However, actual time includes more than active cooking. While a recipe might list 15 minutes of cooking time, it can take about 20 minutes for the pressure cooker to reach full pressure and another 20 minutes to depressurise enough to open.
Research supports pressure cooking's nutritional benefits. A 1995 study found better retention of Vitamin C and beta-carotene in spinach with pressure cooking than with other cooking methods. A study published in The Journal of Food Science found that pressure cooking broccoli preserved 90% of its vitamin C compared to steaming at 78% and boiling at 66%. Research suggests that pressure cooking retains about 90 to 95 per cent of food nutrients, outperforming other methods because of shorter cooking times and controlled temperatures.
Modern pressure cookers have eliminated old safety concerns. Pressure cookers today do not emit high-pitched screeching sounds and have safety features which prevent excess pressure build-up, with locking lid handles that won't open until pressure is released.
You can save up to 70% on electricity costs by pressure cooking, as the sealed environment retains more heat energy. Pressure cookers use less energy compared to open-pot cooking. In a country where power outages and fluctuating energy supplies are not uncommon, energy-efficient cooking methods are highly valued. The sealed environment retains heat better and can result in significant savings.
When doing a taste test comparing clay pots and pressure cooking, slow-cooked meat dishes cooked faster in the pressure cooker by 1 hour, but the meat and vegetables were much mushier compared to those cooked in the clay pot. Higher temperatures work well for curries and dals, but can leave vegetables overcooked. And because everything happens under pressure, you can't taste and adjust seasoning mid-cooking like you can with clay pots.
Most Indian households don't choose one over the other – they keep both. Clay handis come out for weekend biryanis and special occasion cooking. The pressure cooker handles weeknight dals, quick rice, and everything that needs to be on the table faster. But when that same cook wants the taste of home, the depth of flavour that takes them back to their grandmother's kitchen? That's when the clay handi comes out.
