History of the Indian Tandoor
India’s diverse culinary landscape cannot be described without dishes like tikkas, tandoori chicken, naan, and kebabs. The secret behind these succulent and smoky flavors lies in the designs of the cooking apparatus itself. At first glance, a tandoor appears to be a humble clay oven but, there are specific requirements that make it suitable for slow and specialized cooking. A tandoor is typically cylindrical and placed atop a charcoal or wood fire. It is at least 1 meter high and in older times, it was dug underground to the neck in places where fuel was scarce or expensive to trap the heat for longer hours. The high, even heat inside the tandoor is what gives food cooked in it its signature smoky flavor and crispy exterior.
Meat is usually skewered and placed inside the tandoor, while bread, like naan, is slapped against the oven’s inner walls to bake. The intense heat chars the outside of the meat while keeping the inside tender and juicy. The cooked meat is then immersed in curries and gravies, which enhances the taste of the overall dish. This is the secret behind the exquisite taste of dishes like tikka masala and butter chicken.
A look into the fascinating history of this device takes us back to India’s earliest Civilization. The Indus Valley Civilization, which flourished in the northwest regions of South Asia including Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Western Uttar Pradesh, during 3300- 1300 BCE, provides evidence of the country’s oldest tandoor devices.
Indian archaeologist BB Lal discovered remains of a clay oven, similar to the modern tandoor, at the site of Kalibangan (in the present-day state of Rajasthan), dating back to approximately 2600 BCE.
He also discovered charred chicken bones, indicating perhaps that tandoori cooking was familiar to the people of the Indus Valley. Similar clay ovens in sites of Mesopotamia and Egypt further suggest that rudimentary tandoor-style cooking was prevalent in these regions. Evidences of flatbread were also traced in these sites, although it is commonly asserted that modern-day tandoor bread originated and circulated through the nomadic tribes in Central Asia. The bread was prepared in a portable clay oven called a tandir or tandoor, which the nomads could easily transport as they moved across the region.
The term ‘tandoor’ actually comes from the Persian word tanur, which is derived from the Akkadian word tinuru, meaning “mud oven.” The word tannur has similar usages in Asian and African languages, including Arabic (tannur), Armenian (tonir), Georgian (tone), Hebrew (tanur), Turkish (tandir), and Somali (tinaar). Between the ancient Indus Valley period and the medieval Mughal period, there is no concrete evidence of cooking tandoori food in India. The Mughal cuisine had ample use for the tandoor to cook various kinds of meat dishes filled with rich and aromatic spices. From kebabs to korma, the Mughals popularized many dishes that are cooked through the tandoor principle: high heat, radiating from the oven walls, cooks the food evenly and gives it a distinctive flavor. Food historian Salma Hussain in her work, Nushka-e-Shahjahani noted the practice of a style of cooking in the Mughal period that features grilling, baking, and smoking techniques of the tandoor. Further, she also mentioned that emperor Jahangir, father of Shahjahan, was so fond of tandoori food, he carried a portable tandoor whenever he traveled somewhere.
Interestingly, in the Punjab region, tandoor served a unique purpose among the Sikhs. As early as the 16th century, Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, introduced the concept of sanjha chulha, or the construction of a common oven to popularize community-based cooking. The idea behind sanjha chulha was to remove all barriers based on caste-based notions of purity and pollution around food sharing. The community tandoor continues to be relevant today; the ovens would be lit in the early morning, and families would take turns bringing their dough, vegetables, or marinated meats to cook in the shared oven. This practice promoted a sense of community and companionship, as people would gather around the tandoor, share stories, and exchange news while their food was being prepared. According to food historian, Aali Kumar, there is a gender aspect to this communal tradition of cooking.
In rural areas, the tandoor serves as an escape for many women to come out of their homes and socialize with peers.
However, the modern form of tandoori cooking including a multitude of options beyond meat and bread only became popular after the independence and partition of the country in 1947. The Pakistani refugee, Kundan Lal Gujral founded the Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi shortly after his arrival. He introduced many dishes like Butter chicken, Paneer makhani, Tandoori chicken, and Dal makhani, adding them to the restaurant menu. Later processes like migration and globalization of culinary practices and recipes made these tandoori dishes popular in the West. Today, we find many food chains in Western countries serving tandoori dishes like butter chicken and tikka masala, appreciated by Indians and non-Indians alike.
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How fascinating! Thank you for sharing!
This is so interesting! Wow... thank you!