Traditional bakeries are omnipresent in Kashmir, which bake the famous local bread locally known as T’chot. These bakeries use the traditional tandoors (large urn-shaped ovens) that are made with clay to bake these breads. Once tandoor makers were present in different parts of the valley but over the years many have left this profession. However, in Palhalan village in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district many families are still engaged in this generational craft.
A tandoor is crafted by mixing clay, sand and water. Procuring the clay is the most difficult part as it requires permission from the government to dig up the meadows three feet below. The clay is then dried under sunlight and crushed to make a powder which is then mixed with sand and water. The mix is then kneaded with both feet until its texture becomes smooth. Then the clay is ready to be crafted into a tandoor in three steps. First, the base ring is made, then the mid-ring and finally the upper-ring. It takes a total of eight days for the tandoor to be complete and another eight days for it to dry either under sunlight or with the heat of burning wood.
With time, Palhalan has emerged as a chief supplier of these tandoors to other parts of the valley. Even though these families are happy crafting tandoors, they do acknowledge that it is a dying craft.
Aamir Ali Bhat, a journalist and independent researcher based in Kashmir.
Edited by: Novita Singh
