The rage is all about cast iron in the cookware scene right now. It's become trendy to stack up on these beauties and claim your place as a “serious” chef. And while these pans certainly look attractive and are excellent for kitchen use, our ancestors have pretty much nailed the game from centuries ago.
Nearly every household has grandma’s pots and pans which are bound to include the (t)rusty kadai and an age-old seasoned dosa tava which are passed on from generation to generation. Well, cast iron pans are just the western cousins to the Indian kadai counterparts.
Why cook in iron cookware?
However, cast iron is hardly much different from the simpler and infinitely more affordable everyday iron kadais you can pick up at the local vessel store. Iron cookware is also considered a “healthy” option, mainly because it leeches iron into your food and helps improve your blood iron content (haemoglobin) This helps fight anaemia (the author herself has verified this to be true after checking blood iron levels before and 3 months after cooking in iron cookware). This is a considerable advantage, especially for vegetarians who don’t find as many iron-rich natural food sources as non-vegetarians.
Other than this, iron cookware is great because it lasts many lifetimes, if and when maintained well. It has excellent heat retention and is perfect for searing foods, braising meat, for caramelising foods and for frying – all of which happens quite a bit in the Indian kitchen.
How to season and maintain iron cookware?
There are 2 super-easy tried and tested methods that can help season your iron cookware to make them almost non-stick. The “almost” is important mainly because iron retains heat much longer and can burn your food if you don’t remove it as soon as it’s done.
The oven/gas top method
Image courtesy: Jaya Shravan
Alternatively, you can heat it on stove top for 30 minutes. Bear in mind it’ll fume. So do this in a well ventilated kitchen. Turn off the gas and let it cool on the stove top.
The rice water method
Image courtesy: Jaya Shravan
This is for the lazy folks. Reserve the water from washing rice (the starchy part). Submerge your cleaned iron pan in this water overnight. Repeat two times.
Once seasoned, make something fool-proof like toast or thick dosas (not your crispy wafer thin ones) for the first 2-3 times before moving on to the ultimate non-stick cook test – omelettes.
Maintenance
Each time you’ve cooked in your iron pans, wash them well in warm water preferably. Use a spoon to flick away sticky bits of food. Dry immediately. Coat with a thin layer of oil and store. Every time you cook with it, you are reinforcing the polymerized coating from the fat/oil you use to cook with and hence making its seasoning stronger. And yes, you can use steel ladles or spoons on it. It’s not that fragile.