MINGORA: After spending two decades in Saudi Arabia as a daily-wage laborer, Sher Malik, a native of Pakistan’s scenic Swat valley saved enough money to replicate an idea at home that he had stumbled upon during his years in the Kingdom: a fully automated gas tandoor.
Sher Malik stands next to his automated tandoor plant on Jan. 16, 2020 in Mingora, the main town of Swat valley. (AN photo)
Roti and naan, traditional bread cooked in clay ovens called ‘tandoors’ are a staple food in the South Asian country of 208 million people, where the wheat is painstakingly kneaded and cooked by hand. But Malik’s automated version, which cost Rs. 200,000 ($1,293) to set up, came complete with electric kneaders and a roti carousal to dish out much more bread than the human hand.
Workers bake rotis at the traditional tandoor owned by Sher Malik on Jan. 16, 2020 in Mingora, the main town of Swat. (AN Photo)
After the initial success of his tandoor machine however, burgeoning utility and gas bills forced him to shut it down after just six months in business and revert to a traditional oven to make ends meet.
“Fortunately, I have another regular tandoor, a metal oven, to cover daily expenses. But I had to close down my gas-run plant. I wasn’t in a position to afford the ever-increasing bills,” Malik told Arab News on Friday.
But for natives of his town, who had just begun to get a taste of the cheaper, cleaner rotis from Malik’s brand new tandoor machine, the closure has come as a huge disappointment.
Kneading machines and mixers-- all closed down by owner Sher Malik in Mingora after rising utility bills. Jan. 16, 2020. (AN photo).
Arafat Ahmad, a Swat local and a customer of Malik’s tandoor, said the lone gas plant had brought high standards of hygiene and the rotis had been reasonably priced-- well in the reach of even the poorest, at just Rs. 6 a piece.
“The local administration should revise the prices of bills such as power and gas, because mostly poor people are the beneficiaries of these measures,” he said.
Sher Malik counts rotis at his tandoor on Jan. 16, 2020 in Mingora, the main town of Swat. (AN Photo)
Malik’s automated tandoor plant, which was churning out 10,000 rotis daily, was being run through liquified petroleum gas (LPG), the price of which increased more than two-fold in just three months. His electricity bill tripled.
Still, the inflation is not enough to dampen optimistic Malik’s spirits.
“My financial position is stable because of the work opportunities I had in the kingdom. I have earned a decent amount of money during my 20 years there,” he said.
“My hard work in Saudi Arabia means today, I have my own small business and I’m living a happy life.”
