Traditions
Arjun Mehta
Jun 21, 2026
Traditions
Why kulhads make lassi taste better
Ask any lassi wala in old Delhi why he still serves in clay when plastic is cheaper, and he will hand you a kulhad instead of an answer. The first sip explains everything: the drink is colder, the surface is softly matte instead of slick, and there is a faint mineral sweetness that no glass has ever added to anything.
Unglazed clay is porous. The moment cold lassi meets the kulhad, the outer wall starts to sweat and evaporation pulls heat out of the drink — a refrigerator invented a few thousand years before refrigerators. The same pores drink in a little whey, so the cup itself seasons with every serving.
“Clay breathes, glass does not. A kulhad is doing half the work before the first sip.” Arjun Mehta, Founder
There is also the matter of ritual. A kulhad asks to be held with both hands. It slows the drink down, and lassi — thick, cold, churned — was never meant to be rushed.
What we look for in our kulhads
- Unglazed, single-fired clay from Kumhar Gram potters
- Walls thick enough to sweat, thin enough to lift
- Compostable — every cup returns to the soil
Every Lassippers bar goes through a few hundred kulhads a day, and we would not have it any other way. The cup is not packaging. It is an ingredient.
Arjun Mehta
Started churning behind a two-metre stall near Chandni Chowk. Still tastes every batch of dahi himself.
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