Iron, clay or copper: which vessel for which dish

Customers often come in wanting to replace all their non-stick at once, then stand in the shop unsure where to start. The easiest way is to think about the three or four dishes you cook most and choose for those.

Iron is for high heat and dry cooking. A dosa or chapati tawa, a kadai for poriyal, vadai or a quick stir-fry, and a paniyaram pan all do best in iron, which holds heat and browns well. Iron is less suited to long-simmered sour dishes. Tamarind-heavy kuzhambu or tomato rasam left in an iron kadai for hours can turn dark and taste metallic, and the acid strips the seasoning.

Clay is for slow, moist cooking. Our Manamadurai rice pot and curry handi heat gently and evenly, keep food warm long after the flame is off and suit sour dishes perfectly. Meen kuzhambu, vatha kuzhambu, sambar and rice cooked in clay are a different experience from steel. Clay needs low to medium heat and a little patience.

Tin-lined copper is for quick boiling and serving. It heats very fast and evenly, so it suits rasam, payasam, milk and tea. The tin lining keeps acidic food safe, but it does not like high, dry heat or metal scrubbers. For a first purchase, most households do well with an iron tawa for dosa and chapati and one clay pot for kuzhambu. That covers the two places where non-stick is used most. Our iron starter set at ₹3,450 is a good next step once you are comfortable.