Unsung UP - III: Khurja - A Potters town

Khurja a small town, about 100 kms east of Delhi is one of hidden gems for travelers, which has not yet been explored as a travel destination. It is in western UP, a part of Bulandshehar district. Now what makes it special is the huge pottery industry that it has, with a history dating back to few centuries.

Food is one of the parameters that define a place, an important part to explore in a traveler’s itinerary, and if you look around any place, however small it may be, you will always find something special that the place has to offer. So in Khurja these specialties are Khurchan and Kanji Wada. Khurchan is a sweet but a very mild one. It is made with layers of Malai and sugar and like a cake needs to be eaten with all the layers intact. Surprisingly, though made of Malai and sugar, it is neither very heavy nor very sweet and leaves just a perfect taste in your mouth. Kanji Wada is a variation of Kanji, a popular winter drink in north India. Kanji is nothing but the fermented water, made from Rai (mustard seeds), salt and red chilly and at times with Heeng (asafetida). Usually red or black carrots are added to this water. This drink with a tangy taste is a strong appetizer and will make you feel hungry after minutes of having it. What you get in Khurja is Dal Wadas added to Kanji instead of carrots. The small wadas are left in the water and they soak the fermented water. It’s a sheer pleasure to put it in your mouth. You would love this dish if you have a chatpata tooth i.e. if you like spicy street food.

While on food, if you are not a vegetarian, you may want to stop at Sikandarabad for the famous Aas Mohammad Qureshi’s biryani. He sells chicken biryani in the morning and evening and beef one in the afternoon. I am told that he sells at least 1000 plates a day at a price of Rs 25/- for a plate of 250 grams. Can you do a back of the envelope calculation and see how much business it translates into. If you look at his infrastructure, his kitchen is back of his house and his shop is a platform to make and serve kebabs and a push cart. His restaurant area is 3 wooden benches fitted on a metal frame in one row against a street wall. He is located in not so clean area, almost on the road which has busy traffic, but in spite of all that within his premise you would find relative cleanliness. The benches were cleaned as soon as one set of customers finish, there was an attention paid to every customer and a huge smile on the faces of people serving. Unfortunately, being a vegetarian, I could not taste this famous delicacy, but I could read the satisfaction on the faces of my fellow travelers as they were eating the biryani.

Then there was Masterji ka dhaba, just after you turn for Khurja, midway between Bulandshahar and Khurja, where you get stuffed Tandoori Paranthas. Masterji, who was teacher in his earlier avatar, runs this spacious dhaba almost in the middle of nowhere. Apart from the tasty pranthas what you would appreciate is Masterji’s humble demeanor. His hospitality was amazing, as he brought us Kadhi Chawal and Kanji from his home. He made us taste all the pickles that he had: Mango, Garlic, Carrot and Radish. Being Tandoori, the paranthas were light on the stomach while being an absolute delight to the tongue.

There is a 2 km long street that is the potter’s market in Khurja. As you walk on the road, all around you see ceramics and ceramics, in all possible colors and shapes. You can get ceramics for your kitchen, for your garden, for your bathrooms and for decorating your house or office. We went to Fayaiz Bhai’s pottery palace and were lost in choosing our picks. There were so many things that one would like to pick but you get limited by the space you have to carry back things. There were small little ceramic boxes embedded in wood which I could think of for storing masala or even jewellery. There were bowls of all sizes for your kitchen and dining table. There were fruit plates and bowls with delicate floral paintings on them. There were multipurpose plates in the shapes like a fish which would make an appetizing platter for serving snacks or salads. There were antique style kettles and surahis, which I am not sure how much we can use in the era of microwave but can be used as a reminder of bygone era on your display shelves. There were innumerable pots and vases for your plants in sizes that can be on your apartment window to the big ones that you can keep outside your main gate. You may have tough time choosing the design as lot of them may attract your attention. There were small curios that you can use with your imagination, available almost at a throw away price.

Most of the ceramics has mughal style paintings or motifs on them, and that is kind of obvious as the lineage of potters goes back to earliest mughal migrants in the country. At the same time, there were some which have a global appeal like the ones with Moroccan paintings. Fayaiz bhai told us that all the pottery was lead free and hence can be absolutely used in microwave. While we could take a tour of the manufacturing facility as we were getting late, I was told that the ceramics are baked at a temperature of 2000+ deg, and a whole lot of paintings are done by hand. The town has more than 500 potters and they supply ceramics across the world. We saw a lot of pieces that were supplied to up market chains like Fab India and various designer boutiques. Most of the restaurants get their potteries made here including international chains like Pizaa hut.

I look forward to making another trip to Khurja to see the manufacturing process and specially the painting. I would also like to talk to the people engaged in the industry as they are the major players in a ceramics ecosystem. This is my second discovery in UP after Amroha. It such a learning experience to explore these hidden centers of excellence in the country. If you know of some more such places, please do let me know.