and cast iron utensils then came aluminum which is not good especially if you cook sour things if teflon coated vessels chip they need to be discarded she says so people have re discovered the ben efits of using tra ditional cook ware in the old days when there were no mixies the kal stone chatti was used there were small stones embedded at the bottom so the greens or dal could be mashed after being boiled she says the crafts council of india did try to revive the kal chattiwe made tableware and power lathes were used to shape the vessels however it did not really take off as the vessels were too heavy she says however these vessels need to be used with care if you use any stone vessels directly on the stove they crack you need to season it by pouring hot kanji water water filled with starch that you get after boiling rice into it and leave it overnight says radhakrishna copper vessels need to be cleaned and rinsed properly otherwise they develop green deposits that are not good for health she says dr gita mathai health columnist based in vellore says while these vessels are getting popular they need to be used with caution while using clay kitchenware you have to be very sure that the clay is not contaminated with lead she says copper can cause problems in people who are unable to eliminate it from the body it can build up and get deposited in kidney and liver and cause toxicity sticking to traditiona look at some of the traditional cookware that has withstood the test of timeclay vesselchatti pot it is best used for fish curry add some spoonfuls of sesame oil curry leaves mustard urad dal and cloves of garlicwhen it sizzles add tamarind extract tomatoes chilli powder turmeric powder salt and simmer the gravy till it thickensslip in the slices of fish and switch off the stove after five minutes of boiling leave it overnight and it tastes excellent the next day kal stone chatti smeared with half a teaspoon of starter and mixed with milk warmed to room temperature thoroughly mixed and left overnight you get smooth thick curds even with low fat milk cast iron tawas kadais iron is imparted to the food and acts as a great supplement once the tawa is properly seasoned or with frequent use you get evenly browned crisp dosas and it becomes low in oil consumption silver vengalam plates it used to be the custom to eat off these plates before the invasion of ceramic ware the hot food served in these imparted certain minerals which were beneficial to health copper jugs or sombus these are still widely used today pour warm water in them at night and add a few tulsi leaves and drink the water the next morning it is imperative that it is thoroughly cleaned before storing water else they do more harm than