It is a pre-seasoned kadai, so I started using it immediately. For the first time in my life, I had to throw away cooked food because it smelt and tasted ironish. I thought it is because its a new kadai and things might improve with time. After every use, I washed and oiled the kadai. However, the same thing happened 2 more times and I thought that I will re season it. I followed some online tutorials (soaked it in rice water for a day, cleaned with salt, boiled in tamarind water, and finally by frying onion). However, the food always turned black, although it did not effect the food taste that much. Moreover, whenever I wash the kadai the foam turns brownish.
After using the kadai for almost 30 times, the decoloration of food problem seems solved.
Pros: Sturdy and stylish
Con: 1) decoloration of food. Takes a long time to solve this issue.
2) heating and oiling the kadai is a must after every single use. Otherwise it gets rusted. The rusting proves that the material is cast iron. However, a well seasoned kadai does not rust this frequently.
Conclusion: You can get similar cast iron kadai with at cheaper price from any cast iron shops in Madurai (I found this info recently and I ordered a few tawas). This is an expensive and high maintenance kadai.