Tiffin carriers or dabbas are a kind of lunch box

Lunch box

The lunch box, also referred to as a lunch pail or lunch kit, is used to store food to be taken to work or school. The concept of a food container has existed for a long time, but it wasn't until people began using tobacco tins to haul meals in the early 20th century, followed by the use of...

 used widely in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 for tiffin

Tiffin

Tiffin is lunch, or any light meal. It originated in British India, and is today found primarily in Indian English. The word originated when Indian custom superseded the British practice of an afternoon tea, leading to a new word for the afternoon meal. It is derived from the obsolete English slang...

 meals. They were also used in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 and Malaysia during the 1950s-60s, and were known as tingkat. Normally they come in two to three tiers. Tiffin carriers are opened by unlocking a small catch on either side of the handle, then removing it. In the Indian city of Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 there is a complex low-tech system of delivering dabbas to city office-workers from their suburban homes by delivery teams known as dabbawala

Dabbawala

A dabbawala ; also spelled as dabbawalla or dabbawallah; literally meaning , is a person in India, most commonly found in the city of Mumbai, who is employed in a unique service industry whose primary business is collecting the freshly cooked food in lunch boxes from the residences of the office...

s.

Materials

Tiffin carriers are generally made out of steel, but enamel

Vitreous enamel

Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...

 versions have been made by European companies. They can keep food warm for at least two or three hours.

See also

• Lunch box
  Lunch box
  The lunch box, also referred to as a lunch pail or lunch kit, is used to store food to be taken to work or school. The concept of a food container has existed for a long time, but it wasn't until people began using tobacco tins to haul meals in the early 20th century, followed by the use of...
  
  
• Tiffin wallah
• Tiffin
  Tiffin
  Tiffin is lunch, or any light meal. It originated in British India, and is today found primarily in Indian English. The word originated when Indian custom superseded the British practice of an afternoon tea, leading to a new word for the afternoon meal. It is derived from the obsolete English slang...
  
  
• Tiffin Cup
  Tiffin Cup
  The Tiffin Cup is an annual British competition run by the Tiffin Club to find the best South Asian restaurant in the United Kingdom. Nominees are selected by their constituency and then put forward by their local MPs...
  
  , a competition to find the best South Asian restaurant in the United Kingdom