Brass & Copper Tableware

A dastarkhwan is the cloth a meal is laid out on, and the word carries the whole idea of eating together on the floor, within reach of the same dishes. The range is named for it because these are serving pieces first — plates, bowls, glasses and cutlery meant to be handed round rather than plated individually in a kitchen.

Brass and copper behave differently on a table than steel does. They are heavier in the hand, they take a warm colour under lamplight rather than reflecting it flatly, and they hold the temperature of what is served in them for longer. A bowl of salan stays hot through a long meal.

Each piece that food touches is lined with tin. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, and like bare copper it reacts with acidic food, so the lining is what makes these safe for chutney, raita and anything with tamarind or tomato in it. The lining is renewable by a kalaigar when it eventually wears.

Pital ke bartan were standard in Punjabi households before steel replaced them, and they were kept for decades rather than replaced every few years. Wash by hand with warm water and a soft cloth; the outside can be brought back with lemon and salt or tamarind, though a darker patina is what most of these pieces are meant to develop.