Writer: Osman Yüksel
August 2009

The tandoori food, the conspicuous characteristic of Cappadocian cuisine, is being cooked in tandoori, produced by potters of Avanos.  Yusuf Tüysüz, 73 years old and one of the master potter of Avanos, prepared a tandoori for Peribacası Magazine and gave us information about the production. The clay, brought from old channels of Kızılırmak, is being pressed in order to get rid of the sand and then it is being sifted. After turning it into dough density, the clay is being mangled in order not to have air bubbles inside and then being kept for a long time in a cooler area in stripe shape.  As the tandoori craftsman receives an order or produces for the stocks, he takes enough amount of clay and start to work. First of all the caliber of the tandoori is being defined and then the stripe shape clay is being put one over an other in a round shape.  After each clay stripe finishes one round in order to smooth the inner part and in order not to have air inside the craftsman paves the inner side by his hand.  Since it will stay under the ground there is no need to have a smooth surface for the outside.  In the past hay and goat hair were being used as splicer to make it more everlasting. Before tandoori gets its place underground, it is being left to get dry under a shade for 10-15 days. The fire style of tandoori is a bit different than the clay based tools such as crock, pottery and cruse. They are being fired in the oven but tandoori is being fired where it is buried.  In order to light up the tandoori, a few brushwood will be enough. The tandoori gets ready to cook in 10-15 minutes. It is possible to cook many different dishes from baking bread to cooking “haricot bean”, the famous dish of the region. The food of tandoori is very delicious since it is being cooked very slowly and for the cooking again the potteries and stew pans of the region are being used.

Note: This article has been published in Peribacası Cappadocia Culture and Publicity Magazine, August 2009 issue. It is under protection of the copyrights of the magazine. No part of this article may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by electronic, mechanical or other means without prior permission from the owner. www.cappadociaexplorer.com