The Joy of Cooking on a Tawa
A look at the tawa I use in my garden kitchen
Like many people, I love watching cooking videos, and I even make a few. And I often watch street food videos, particularly those from India and its neighbours.
My mother is from Burma originally, and she grew up in the 20s and 30s with curry every day served up by amazing Tamil cooks. And she met my father in India during WW2. So, I have a connection with both the people of the region and the food. It’s a connection I reinforce every week as never a week passes without me cooking at least a couple of Asian dishes.
Street food in India is cooked in all kinds of ways; it is some of the most exciting street food in the world and puts us in the UK to shame. But the two most common pans you see are the aluminium Handi, which is the tulip shaped pot used for biryani or big curries, and the Tawa.
A tawa is a large, gently concave frying pan, for want of a better description. You will often see small ones used at home for cooking chapatis.
They are not confined to India but are found right across the Middle East as well. In Azerbaijan, for instance, they are called a sej.
But they really come into their own when you use a big one. And that is what I went searching for.
After digging around countless websites, I found a company called Cooksmill. They are in Bradford and Salford, and they sell a huge selection of tawas as well as the usual mix of catering goodies. (They sell to the general public too).
I bought a heavy 26-inch number online, but I could have bought bigger. That size, however, was a perfect fit in my existing garden kitchen.
When I first bought it, I used it over a wood fire. I still could if I wanted to. But though that was fun, and it certainly added flavour, it didn’t work so well in bad weather, and could be a hassle to set up and clean.
This year, I was determined to use it a lot more often, so I bought a medium sized, outdoor-only paella burner (outdoor ones are cheaper but can’t be used inside for serious safety reasons), mounted it on three short legs, and attached it to a propane cylinder. Propane is fine during cold weather whereas butane is not.
Now, I have to say that I didn’t particularly want to add gas to my cooking (I am wood, charcoal, and electric induction normally) but this conversion has made quite a difference to my life. Over summer, the indoor cooker was hardly used, and my energy costs went down.
While the weather was better, I cooked outside most days, and even now in winter, I am using it a couple of times a week when it is not too wet and windy.
But what do I cook on it?
And that is the point of this article.
The tawa is heavy lump of iron about 5mm thick. Cooksmill also sell professional ones that are 10mm thick for those who are working commercially, but that was a bit over the top for me at the time.
(I would quite like one now, I think, and I will explain why later)
They need cleaning up and seasoning first as they have all come from India and are protected with machine oil. I simply attacked mine with wire wool until it was scrubbed smooth, then oiled it with vegetable oil and brought it up to furnace temperatures over the fire.
That did it! It hasn’t rusted or anything since, and it is close to non-stick. Of course, I often fry on it (great for bacon and eggs) which keeps the seasoning going, and I normally oil it once I have cleaned it after the meal.
Start with good old Pav Bhaji
If you have watched YouTube videos about the tawa you will have come across Pav Bhaji — the dish of fried vegetables and lentils served with Pavs which are basically milk rolls. Delicious!
So, that is where I started.
From there, I moved on to cooking giant flat breads, huge curries for freezing, mutton curries, tika masala, Persian meat patties, pilau rice…
Because it is so thick, the tawa’s heat is even and constant. I tend to only use the inner ring of my paella burner unless I am cooking something very large or cooking flat breads.
That means the middle is hot and it gets cooler towards the edges. When cooking for just two of us, I will frequently cook say onions, then push them to the edge while I move onto the next ingredient.
That is SO FLEXIBLE! It is a joy.
And I didn’t stop at Indian food.
I moved back to Europe.
Tuscan Chicken anyone? I cooked a recipe inspired by Gennaro Contaldo on the tawa and I reckon mine was better than his.
Not because I am a better cook (I really am not!) but because of the tawa.
While we are in Italy, what about bolognaise?
I wasn’t sure how a ragu would turn out as it needs slow cooking. But using a wok lid, it worked perfectly. I think it was the best ragu I have cooked. I certainly ate enough of it.
I cooked it for just four people, but I could have cooked for ten. It didn’t matter. The tawa works brilliantly for small and large.
I have even cooked bacon sandwiches on it, omelettes, stews, sauces, fish cakes…
What about cleaning it?
That worried me when I first bought it. It is way too big for a dishwasher and would rust instantly. And it is heavy.
But it turned out to be rather easy.
Once you have finished cooking, scrape everything off with a silicone spatula. Try to find one which has a similar curve to the tawa.
Then turn the heat up and pour on a glass of water. I bought a Churn Brush (for cleaning out milk churns) which has very stiff bristles. It is perfect for woks and tawas. You don’t have to be delicate with this lump of iron, and any stuck-on pieces will come free in seconds.
Scrape any remaining water and bits into a bucket (do NOT try to lift the hot tawa!!!!), and use good old blue roll to finish wiping it down. Then give it a very quick oiling. It takes very little time, and it is wonderfully clean and ready for the next dish.
I did a TikTok video showing how easy it is:
So, should you buy one?
If you can find the space for one — yes. You don’t even have to like cooking Indian food.
It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it will change your cooking forever.
Mostly, it has slowed me down. The heat is so even but the pan so big that I can fry large quantities of meat pieces at a lower temperature without them drowning in their own juices.
That is every cook's dream.
I would love one indoors, but my kitchen is simply not the right shape and size for one. And cooking outside is fun.
Go for a big one
I mentioned earlier about the commercial one that is 10mm thick.
It is much more expensive, obviously, so I would have been stretching my finances too far when I bought mine, but I can see the advantages.
Even if you are not cooking for many people, using a large tawa means you can cook and keep warm several things at once. Fry your rice, make your veg curry, fry your marinated meat, all on the same tawa without stopping in between.
The normal ones are heavy duty already, and they are perfect for the home cook.
But would the heavier one be better still? Interesting thought.
What else would I buy?
Obviously, you need a burner for it or a stand so you can light a wood fire underneath. Cooksmill are doing paella burners now, which is brilliant.
If you are cooking stews or mutton curries that need longer, you might want a lid. Find a wok lid — the biggest you can get.
In the Azerbaijan videos I have seen, when they are using a smaller sej, they will sometimes put another one on top upside down. That sounds clever to me!
Perhaps Cooksmill have some suggestions. They certainly do a lot of Indian cookery gear.
I would also love to get my hands on a Handi. These big aluminium pots are seen all over India, but I can’t find them here. (Well, a couple on Ebay for a rip-off price!) They are brilliant for anything with gallons of sauce or for biryanis. It would complement the tawa perfectly.
So, there you go. A quick look at the tawa and a shoutout for Cooksmill who delivered me my heavy tawa without fuss.
If you want to see it in action, then you will find plenty of videos on my YouTube channel.
By the way, I wasn’t paid by Cooksmill to be so nice to them, but they were very nice to deal with.
