Kalai: why brass and copper cookware is tin-lined, and when to re-tin it

Kalai (qalai, or tinning) is a thin, silvery lining of tin on the inside of a vessel. The craftsman who applies it is a kalaiwala, or qalaigar.

The method has barely changed. The vessel is cleaned and heated over a small furnace until a piece of tin melts on its surface. The kalaiwala then rubs the molten tin across the inside with a cotton pad dipped in nausadar (ammonium chloride).

The craft is old. Kalai is mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari, Abul Fazl's record of 1590.

Line any brass or copper vessel that will cook or hold food. Both metals react with food, and sour food such as tomato, tamarind, curd or lemon draws out more metal.

FSSAI's Packaging Regulations, 2018 treat copper or brass containers that are not properly tinned as unfit for preparing, packing or storing food. The US FDA Food Code bars copper and brass from contact with food below pH 6.

• Need kalai: tope (patila), handi, deg and degchi, kadhai and tasla, lagan, saucepans and frying pans: anything that cooks or stores food.
• Often left bare: water vessels, glasses and lotas for water, serveware for dry food, and pooja and decorative pieces.
• When you order cooking vessels, say they must be tinned. The quotation should confirm it line by line.

• Yellow (brass) or reddish (copper) patches show through the silver, usually at the base and where the ladle scrapes.
• The surface turns dull, grey and uneven instead of bright and smooth.
• Food picks up a metallic taste.

There is no fixed interval; it depends on how often the vessel cooks and what it cooks. Re-tin as soon as the base metal shows through.

Reports range widely. Old Delhi kitchens cooking daily re-tinned every few months, according to Sahapedia. Sellers suggest about once a year for regular home use. A festival-only vessel can go far longer.

Kalaiwalas are fewer than they were, but the trade survives in old utensil markets. In July 2026, Telangana Today reported Hyderabad's last kalaiwalas still at work.

Ask at the utensil market nearest you, where shops often know a kalaiwala. Re-tinning is quick: a small vessel takes minutes once the furnace is hot.

• Stir with wooden or soft spoons. Steel ladles scrape tin away.
• Clean the inside with mild soap and water. Acids, abrasive powders and steel wool strip the lining.
• Never heat a tinned vessel empty. Tin melts at about 232 °C, well within a gas flame's reach.
• Wash by hand and dry at once. Dishwasher detergent and heat wear the tin.