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The forge has a fire pot with a patent year of 1907, but town officials say that date may not be the true age of the forge, as the pot could have been replaced.

“We’d never want B.J.P. to be in power in Kashmir,” said Kulsoom Chopan, 21, who warmed her hands over a wicker fire pot while waiting to vote at a public boys’ high school in Bandipora, a northern district hemmed in by the Himalayas and Asia’s second-largest freshwater lake.

Hot pot — known in China as huo guo, or fire pot — was originally consumed to ward off the cold of winter.

A computer-controlled door automatically drops the briquettes into the fire pot as needed.

Silk Road, 49 Camberwell Church Street, London SE5 8TR; 020 7703 4832 Yan-kit So’s Mongolian lamb fire pot Facebook Twitter Pinterest Photograph: Martin Poole for the Observer This Mongolian dish, which has long since become part and parcel of Peking food, ranks second in fame only to the Peking duck.