Ron Levy never intended to become a tandoor mogul. In fact, he had never heard of tandoors — Indian clay cooking vessels that are part oven and part barbecue pit — until 1986, when a New York gallery ...

On a recent afternoon, chef Vikram Garg is bent over his clay pot tandoor, seasoning the oven. He holds a kitchen towel that has been twisted into the kind of whip commonly used in middle school ...