“Once people ate in copper and brass utensils,” says one of them, Mohammad Qadeer. “Now with pressure cookers and steel, everything has gone changed.”

Qadeer belongs to a community of craftsmen whose skill has few takers these days. Traditionally called ‘kalai’, the skill lies in giving a metallic coating on brass and copper utensils so that they don’t wear out with heat and continue to shine. Qadeer inherited the old shop and business from his father.

“At our home, food is still cooked in copper vessels,” says Ghoomi. “We know the benefits of cooking in them.”

Agrees Mohd Rafi. “The metal doesn’t wear out if it has kalai on it,” he says. “Try the food cooked in a copper utensil with kalai on it. It tastes better too,” he adds. “The food may take time to cook, but it is different from food cooked in pressure cooker.”

Despite its qualities, business is irregular, except during the wedding season. “During weddings, these copper utensils are part of the gifts given to the bride. It is then that we get work,” says Qadeer.