Hankotsu, usuba, nakiri… Jesudas Puthumana of Chendamangalam, Kerala, makes 13 sorts of personalised Japanese kitchen knives
Hankotsu, usuba, nakiri… Jesudas Puthumana of Chendamangalam, Kerala, makes 13 sorts of personalised Japanese kitchen knives
Nirvana 2019, the home Jesudas Puthmana constructed on Valiya Pazhampilly Thuruth — one of many tiny islands that dot the Periyar and make up Chendamangalam, Kochi — seems particularly Marquezian on a rain-drenched day.
Fashioned in such a manner that it looks as if an extension of the surroundings, it’s a labour of affection, and a ardour undertaking, for which he drew the plan, sourced the fabric, designed the ground tiles and even calculated the angle of the solar’s shade on the roof. He constructed a wood-fired masonry oven for its kitchen, the place he bakes pizza, bread, cake and naan. Jesudas additionally makes artisanal Japanese kitchen knives beneath Urukk Blades.
He brings out 5 handmade knives, in numerous levels of completion, and lovingly explains every. For use within the kitchen and by cooks, the knives are personalised with the identify stamped on one aspect of the blade and a singular serial quantity on the opposite. Japanese kitchen knives are different, every with a distinct objective, for instance, usuba, a conventional knife used for greens and complex chopping, hankotsu, a boning knife, nakiri, a vegetable cleaver for up and down chopping. Jesudas makes 13 kinds of knives, with a alternative of 4 finishes and three kinds of wooden handles.
Meat cleavers to bread blades
Since March 2022, when he began, he has delivered 45 knives, to a clientele that features cooks Thomas Zachariah of The Locavore, Hussain Shahzad of The Bombay Canteen, and Avin Thaliath, co-founder and director, Lavonne Academy of Baking Science and Pastry Arts.
“I want my knives to be used, and chefs who understand a good knife because it is their primary tool,” says the 44-year-old mechanical engineer. The Serbian meat cleaver among the many Japanese kitchen knives proves he’s up for a problem. Next, he plans to make a bread knife for a Mumbai-based baker by adapting a serrated kind of Japanese kitchen knife.
He forges, sharpens and polishes knives out of Ultra High Carbon (UHC) metal also referred to as instrument metal for a similar motive as he constructed his home and its wood-fired oven — “the feeling of making something from zero, to build something out of scratch.” Or, if he had been to be ‘arrogant’, he jokes, “because I can!”
If he had been to pinpoint what piqued his curiosity in swords/knives, he pegs it on a documentary on Japanese Katana swords. While working for a building firm in Dubai, with entry to a workshop, he made a few knives on a whim.
Steeped in geometry
However, a go to to a blacksmith in Palakkad, in early 2022, to get knives custom-made revived his curiosity. “The blacksmith had an order of Japanese-style knives, which he was making while I was there. It got me curious enough to go back to Kochi and spend a month on homework for the types, design, and drawings of the first set of knives. On the next visit, I made the three knives.” Reference materials for the blacksmith was some images; on the finish of the keep, he carried residence what he noticed and learnt.
While locally-made knives are solid from High Carbon metal, “the geometry or shapes are random, these are made as per the blacksmith. Japanese knives have a continuous tradition where each knife’s geometry has evolved to specific usage because of which knives with specific names and functions exist.”
Jesudas put that data to make use of in March this 12 months when he lastly determined to make the leap, inspired by the response to his first three knives. “I did nothing else but work on them.” The knives might be ordered on his socials, by way of Facebook or Instagram.
He exhibits Excel sheets of the knives he has made to date, he has the specs all the way down to the measurements and weight of every knife. He works with a few native smithies close to his home, hours working with blacksmiths forging and hammering UHC metal blanks into knives. Although he doesn’t work repeatedly, every knife is greater than 15 hours of labor.
‘Wootz’ in a reputation?
It is believed that wootz is the anglicised model of the Tamil ukku, derived from uruku used to explain fused or melted steel in Tamil Sangam Literature. Speculated to have been primarily present in Tamil Nadu, Telengana, Karnataka and Sri Lanka, it was exported to historical Europe and Arabia. Jewish retailers are mentioned to have exported iron and metal from south India; Arab traveller Edrisi praised ‘Hinduwani’ (Indian) metal as one of the best. The metal exported was solid into swords in Damascus, therefore the identify Damascus metal.
The handles — rosewood, beech and olive — are made by an artisanal carpenter. The different processes are completed by hand in his workspace at residence hand wrought by Jesudas: sharpened on a whetstone and polished in his workspace at residence. Customisation requests embrace dominant hand choice, he prices a small quantity for some requests. He has, nonetheless, not been requested for customisation for a specific hand.
Focus on performance
Gyuto, santoku and bunka are all-purpose knives appropriate for quite a lot of features — chopping/chopping meat, seafood, and greens. The hottest of the lot is gyuto, which accounts for 30% of orders. “Japanese knives have evolved over centuries, and the nuances of knife edge geometry have been streamlined perfectly. The edge geometry differs from conventional Western knives as most of these have a single bevel (sloping surface or edge) and a steeper bevel angle. UHC steel can maintain such steep and thin edges.” While designing the emblem, he tapped in on the artist in him. Although in Malayalam, the font, model and hues have a distinctly Japanese vibe.
Listening to him speak about metallurgy and metal, its origin in South India and the way it was taken from right here to different elements of the world, one will get the sense of the place his curiosity lies. He jokes about eager to make urukk metal or Wootz Damascus (Damascus Steel) from iron ore, “People will think I am crazy!” For now, he desires to maintain it to forging knives.
The costs of the knives vary from ₹4000 to ₹10,000, @urukkblades on Instagram
Source: www.thehindu.com