3
How to Use
Wash Before Use
Remove sticker/label. Remove any adhesive with baby or
vegetable oil. Before using tava for the first time, wash in hot
water with a mild soap or detergent, rinse in clear water and
dry. Do not wash in a dishwasher.
Seasoning
It is not necessary to season the tava. If, however, you plan
to cook food which tends to stick such as fried eggs without
any oil or butter for the first use or before you have cooked
with oil on the tava, seasoning will assist release of the food.
To season: rub 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vegetable oil over the clean
nonstick surface using a paper napkin or clean cotton cloth.
Wipe off oil with a paper napkin or clean cotton cloth. Wash
and dry tava.
Suitable Heat Sources
High temperatures will shorten the life of the nonstick and
may destroy it. Use tava only on domestic gas, electric or
halogen stoves in which the temperature can be regulated to
low and medium heat.
Do not use high heat
.
Use low to
medium heat
.
Limit Preheating of Tava
Some foods require preheating of the tava. Foods such as
phulka
and
paratha
require the tava to be at a certain
temperature before you cook the first batch.
When preheating the cold empty tava (with or without
oil) before beginning to cook, it is critical that THE
HEAT IS NO MORE THAN MEDIUM and the time is
strictly limited to no more than the following:
Tava
Maximum Preheating Time
22 cm
3 MINUTES
26 cm
4 MINUTES
The actual time required for preheating for best cooking
results may be less, depending on the food being cooked and
your burner. Overheating can occur quickly if the tava is left
on the heat without food so
NEVER
keep the tava empty on
the heat once it is hot.
Avoid Overheating: Check Your Burner
If food is smoking or burning, reduce heat. Using medium
or lower heat and limiting the time the empty tava is heating
are the basic techniques to avoid overheating.
The tava can overheat even on medium heat if the
burner is providing excessive heat
. To check if your burner
can overheat even on medium heat, place clean tava on
medium heat. Heat tava for 2 minutes. Press one finger firmly
into whole wheat flour (
atta
)
.
Do not pinch. Flick from a
distance of about 6 cm a small, fine, even dusting of flour on
centre of tava and immediately begin counting off seconds
(“one second, two second, three second” etc.) while watching
the flour. The time the flour takes to become dark brown
gives a rough indication of how hot the tava is. As long as flour
has not turned dark brown within 15 seconds, the tava is not
overheated. Follow the steps in the chart on the next page to
complete the test. Do not exceed the preheating limit of
3 minutes for 22 cm tava and 4 minutes for 26 cm tava in any
case.
