Brass, Copper or Kansa? a Guide to India's Table Metals
What sets the three metals apart, what each is traditionally used for, and how to choose.
Walk into almost any Indian kitchen of a generation or two ago and you'd find three metals at work: brass for storing and serving, copper for water, and kansa for eating. Each has its own character — and its own place at the table.
Brass (Pital)
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. It has a warm, golden colour that deepens with age, and it is sturdy enough for everyday handling. Traditionally, brass has been used for storage containers like the masala dabba and ghee pot, for serving, and for almost everything in the pooja room — diya stands, urlis and dhoop danis.
If you plan to cook in brass or keep sour foods in it, it is traditionally lined with tin (kalai) first.
Copper (Tamba)
Copper is the rose-toned metal of the water pot. Keeping drinking water overnight in a copper vessel — tamra jal — is one of India's most familiar daily rituals, and a copper bottle is the modern form of it. Copper is best kept for plain water; acidic drinks, milk and hot liquids are traditionally kept out of unlined copper.
Kansa (Bell Metal)
Kansa is a bronze alloy of copper and tin. It has a paler, softer gold than brass and rings clearly when tapped. Kansa has long been the metal of the thali — bowls, katoris and glasses for eating and drinking — and it is traditionally used without a tin lining. It is hard but brittle, so it should be handled with a little care.
How to Choose
- For water — copper bottles, jars and glasses.
- For eating and drinking — kansa bowls, katoris and glasses.
- For storage, serving and pooja — brass.
- For a gift — a set that brings the metals together, like our Three Dhatu Gift Set.
