Food - Drink
The Origin Of Tandoor Ovens Dates Back To The Age Of The Pyramids
By ELIAS NASH
The tandoor oven is simple and brilliant in its design, consisting of a massive clay urn that is often buried in earth, then heated by charcoal fires. The use of these special ovens began spreading from India to other cultures along the Silk Road starting in 130 B.C., but tandoors have been used in India alone for a long, long time.
Archaeologists in the Indian state of Rajasthan have unearthed the remains of tandoor ovens dating back to 2,600 B.C. This is roughly the same time that the pyramids of Egypt were built; as such, tandoors can be credited with feeding the Indus Civilization, one of the oldest human civilizations in history, next to Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Amazingly, the tandoor oven has hardly changed during its five millennia of existence, and its basic functions remain the same, mainly baking flatbread, such as naan and roti, or cooking meat, a tandoor technique that began as early as 800 B.C. Few cooking methods throughout history have endured in their original state for so long.