Why should we not cook in Iron Pan or Kadhai? Is Iron Kadai Safe? Lets get answer to all these cooking queries in this article.
Iron kadhai is widely used and believed to be the safest utensil for preparation, for many years because it gives iron to your body naturally and it is also not coated with any synthetic polymer or chemicals. Iron kadhai is one of the best ways of cooking food. Just by cooking dishes in Iron kadhai or pan can help you get your body’s daily iron dose.
Cook your food and then leave it in a kadhai for few minutes and it will fill your iron need. Easy and without the hassle and being healthy this is the safest way to prepare your food. But there are several dishes that should not be cooked in an Iron pan or kadhai as it may harm the body in some ways.
Food which should not be cooked in Iron Pan or Kadhai
Acidic food
One should never cook acidic food like lemon based dishes, or tomato soup in iron kadhai because some molecule of iron kadhai will leave the kadhai and may mix with your soup and may give a metallic taste to the food you prepared. Foods which needs an ingredient like lemon, tomato, vinegar should not be cooked in iron pan or kadhai. Dishes like paneer dish which has a tomato base, or sambhar kadhai shouldn’t be used in iron kadhai.
Fish:
There are many fishes having flaky texture. Which should not be cooked in the kadhai. Because the fishes are flaky in nature it might stick to the pan and may be hard to take out of it. Even after using a lot of oil or butter it might stick to the pan and can be a hassle to take it out.
Rice, eggs and pasta:
Another dish that should not be prepared in an iron kadhai or pan is the recipe or rice, eggs and pasta. Because they are stick in nature and might stick and burn from kadhai. If you have fried pasta or rice then you can give it a try otherwise it will stick and may not taste as good as it may.
Wine-braised meat:
One should not prepare dishes made with meat who needs wine or vinegar for cooking. Adding wine or vinegar will cause leaching of iron and may ruin the overall taste of the meal.
Cooking in iron, kadhai should also not be done on regular basis or all seven days a week. It should be done only twice or thrice every week. Because it may give your body more iron than it needs. Making food in iron kadhai is really a great step towards life. It has numerous benefit too it will help your body to fulfil the need for iron. It will strengthen your bones and muscles and much more.

Simple tips to remember while cooking in Iron Pan or Kadhai
1- Prepare a meal in an iron dish for only two or three times a week. As it will fulfil iron need in your body and you don’t have to overdo it.
2- After washing iron kadhai, dry it as soon as possible. Because the kadhai is made of iron, after being with air and water it will catch rust very easily and that may be harmful to you and your body too.
3- Apply a little amount of any vegetable oil to prevent it from rusting.
4- Keep the iron in clean and dry place.
5- Do not keep water in iron kadhai as it may react with iron and cause rusting that may damage you.
6- Transfer your meal in another container after you prepare it.
7- Do not leave your meal in same iron kadhai as it may get loads of iron molecule and give your food unpleasant taste.
So you know how difficult it is to maintain an Iron kadhai. One needs to do a lot of things in it. You should use iron kadhai it is not bad to do so. But you need to take care of a few things before making dishes in iron pan or kadhai.
Above mentioned, dishes were few dishes that one should not prepare in Iron kadhai or pan or he or she may use iron cast utensil for preparing such things otherwise the taste may be disturbed and, if you are in a restaurant it may create a bit of problem as the costumers may be a bit disappointed with the taste.
Rather than above-mentioned points it is okay to use iron kadhai or pan for cooking and before preparing meal do take care of the things written above like drying it after washing and there should be no rust in the kadhai because rust is not good for the human body and may create a problem. Iron kadhai is used for cooking since ages and we are very habitual of it and it creates some problems which people ignore but needs to be taken care of. Otherwise cooking in iron pan or kadhai is a healthy way to deliver iron to the human body.