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Kalu-Khani Thalee were traditionalglazedearthenware deep dishes or plates used on special occasions to serve guests or members ofHashar (collective voluntary working force). It was used up until around last quarter of 20th century in most of the villages ofSwabi District,Mardan Division,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Pakistan.[1] Every household used to keep a few of these decorative glazed dishes for serving the guests on special occasions and celebrations. They were decorated and glazed in different colours. Conventionally, hotchicken curry was served in these dishes, with almost enough for 4 to 6 persons for combined or group eating added with another special paste- curry calledLawanr.[clarification needed]Lawanr, being a viscous mixture, was especially cooked for the purpose of thickening the otherwise thin chicken curry fromShumle andmaizeflour.
It was customary thattandoori breads were first chopped into small pieces and soaked in thecurry for eating by all from the same dish jointly. The ultimate cocktail ready for eating used to be a scrumptious mixture of chopped tandoori bread, a bit of spicyLawanr both fully soaked in thin spicy chicken curry withoutchicken pieces.[tone]
The spicy chicken pieces, fried separately, would be distributed among the guests; one per head in the middle by an elderly person from the host family unit. The elderly person would distribute these spicy chicken pieces after due thought and observing a protocol among the guests according to status and age of each recipient.
The dishes used to come only fromKalu Khan, a village inRazzar, a dominant clan ofMandanr, a sub-tribe ofYousafzai in the Swabi district, because the potters of that village were famous for its making and the item was named after the village. Glazed pottery was once a great art in the valley ofKashmir who introduced this art in the oldPeshawar valley including this area.