The story
What it is
In the old city of Peshawar, near Qissa Khwani Bazaar, metalworkers hammer copper sheets into cooking pots, water jugs, trays and bowls, and engrave them with flowers and geometric patterns. The rhythmic tapping is one of the sounds of the bazaar.
Cooking pots are traditionally lined with tin (qalai) so food never touches bare copper. Decorative trays and bowls are often left unlined and polished.
Where it comes from
Peshawar sat on the trade route between Central Asia and the subcontinent, and its metalwork shows both. Copper pots were once part of every dowry; families still have them re-tinned every year or two by a qalai-gar, the tinsmith.