History of Tandoor in the context of Lahaul                           

Origin of Tandoor

Tandoor is said to be brought to Lahaul by the British Morovian missionaries around 1930.To avoid the intense cold weather for 6 months Tandoors were first used by these missionaries and thereafter the Lahaul people also began using tandoors. Before the advent of tandoors only medium for keeping the rooms warm and for cooking was Desi Chullahs, in which firewood was burnt in open space in the middle of the room. Presently Tandoor is most important and essential household equipment and no one can think of life without it.

Types of Tandoor

There are three types of Tandoors i.e. 1) For burning Firewood. 2) For burning steam coke. 3) For burning kerosene. It is made of iron sheet metal of varying thickness between 2mm to 4mm. Tandoor's shape and size varies as per the use and size of family. Tandoors are used mainly in Kitchen, living rooms, guest rooms. In Lahaul Bukhari type ta ndoors are used in offices for burning steam coke to keep the rooms warm.

Parts of tandoors

Tandoor contains following parts:

1. Main body.

2. Suction pipes.

3. Regulator.

4. Ash Tray.

1. Main Body:

It is normally a rectangular, circular or oval structure with varying dimensions having length of 2ft to 3ft, width 16 inches to 24 inches and height 10 inches to 18 inches. These dimension can vary keeping in view the needs of the family. lt contains one to three openings on the top surface. The front opening is bigger circular and the rear openings are smaller. These openings are covered by the circular lids when the cooking or heating pans are removed . Tandoor has the opening door in front which is hinged on right side and locked on the left side by simple locking mechanism. Firewood is put through this door into Tandoor and the door is shut after firewood inside the tandoor is put to fire with the help of small splinters of firewood and kerosene. Tandoor stands on the four legged stand fixed underneath the bottom of it.

2.Suction:

This is a long pipe made of sheets of iron/steel with diameter varying from 3" to 4". Length varies as the pipe connects the tandoor and works as the smoke outlet and as suction pipe for burning the firewood in tandoor. The pipe opens through the hole made of suitable size on the rooftops or through the windows.

3. Regulator:

This is a flat strip of same material as that of pipe, which is slided through the slit made horizontally on the vertically placed pipe. This strip acts as the regulator and controls the burning speed and the heat to be emitted by tandoor. This also controls the quantity of firewood consumption.

4. Ash Trav :

Ash tray is fixed underneath the door and is meant for the collection of ash which comes out of the door after the firewood is burnt. Ash accumulated inside Tandoor is collected after Tandoor is filled with ash upto a quarter height of tandoor to enable putting firewood inside Tandoor.

Cost :

Domestic Tandoors costs in the range of RS.500 to 2500 depending on the different sizes and purposes.

Types of  firewood used

Firewood used in Tandoors In Lahaul is of following types :-

1) Kail (Blue pine)

2) Rai (Spruce)

3) Tosh (Fir)

4) Juniper.

5) Willow.

6) Apricot.

7) Poplar.

8) Chharma.

9) Betula Spp.(Bhoj patra)

10) Sanjal (Fraxinus spp.)

11) Cow Dung cakes.

Bhoj Patra firewood has been considered as the best.

Tandoor as the fuel efficient energy saving device with multiple uses:-

ð     As per the version of tribals of Lahaul Tandoor saves firewood upto 50% and serves the following purposes :-

ð     As compared to the conventional Chullas Tandoor can accommodate more than one cooking pot, thus the cooking is faster and easier.

ð     It is totally smokeless and more hygienic.

ð     The pots put on tandoor do not blacken by carbon.

ð     Tandoor serves twin purpose of heating the room and cooking.

ð     Once the temperature of Tandoor rises it remains hot for about 30 minutes and thus keeps room warm.

ð     Even the ill members of the family can sit in the room comfortably where Tandoor is used. Especially the patients suffering from eye diseases and asthma can also enjoy the warmth of Tandoor.

ð     Tandoor saves the incidence of fires and burning of clothes.

ð     Children remain safe from fireburns.

Maintenance:

Tandoor is very easy to maintain. People in Lahaul apply Mustard oil to protect it from rusting. Normally good quality Tandoor lasts for 10 to 15 year.

Tandoors usefulness to the womenfolk:-

As the cooking is mainly done by the women in tribal area, Tandoor has helped them in easier and less time consuming cooking. Besides there is no health hazard in absence of smoke and effective burning of firewood.

1. Saves firewood thus less hours involved to collect firewood.

2. Smokeless heating and cooking as drudgery reducing measure to women.

3. Room remains clean and saves time needed for cleaning.

4. Cleaning of utensils easy as they are not blackened by fire all around.

5. Cooking is faster which saves valuable time of women.

6. Women get rid of many diseases caused by smoke as they have to be around Tandoor for most of the time.

7. The beds and the clothes do not get dirty by flying ash and smoke, which saves lot of time otherwise needed for cleaning.

Contributed by Sh. B.R. Negi, DFO Lahaul Division.