Reva Jhingan Malik, who lives in Bengaluru, has chosen to live more sustainably by using solar power to cook her food. Instead of using a traditional LPG stove, she now uses a solar cooker that works with sunlight. Each morning, she prepares her meals on the terrace of her home, where she has set up the solar cooker. This way, she avoids using LPG, kerosene, electricity, coal, or wood, making her cooking process more environmentally friendly.
Every day at 9 a.m., Reva puts her ingredients into the trays of her solar cooker. The sunlight slowly cooks the food over two hours. Thanks to this method, she hasn’t needed to buy an LPG cylinder for the last four years.
With her solar cooker, Reva can make a variety of dishes, including traditional foods like poha and baati, as well as cakes, breads, roasted peanuts, boiled milk, and tea. In an interview, Reva explained that her decision to use solar cooking was driven by her desire to reduce her environmental impact, reflecting her commitment to sustainability through her work at Primalise, her consulting firm in Bengaluru.
Reva pointed out that although people know fossil fuels are running out, not enough is being done at the personal level to address this issue. Reva noticed that despite ongoing discussions about sustainability, individual efforts to make a difference are often inadequate.
Realizing the need to reduce her use of fossil fuels, Reva started by switching to an electric vehicle. Her next big step was to stop using LPG gas completely and switch to solar cooking. By 2020, Reva had fully moved away from LPG cylinders. Before this, she used LPG every 2-3 months but also used a solar cooker occasionally. She found that, given India’s plentiful sunlight, using solar energy for cooking was a practical and efficient choice.
Since Reva started using her solar cooker for all her cooking, she’s found it easier and more convenient than using an LPG stove. She doesn’t need to stir the food or keep a close watch on it. Her solar cooker, which is about 2 feet long, has three separate containers, making it flexible and effective for cooking different dishes at once.
However, there are some downsides. The solar cooker can’t be used to make chapatis or to do the traditional tempering (tadka) for daal. To work around this, Reva and her family have adapted by eating wheat in forms like daliya and baati and by using roasting to add flavour to their food.
On cloudy or rainy days, Reva uses a firewood stove as a backup. She burns locally collected firewood, coconut shells, and cow dung cakes to cook. This stove is only used when necessary. Her home also has a small solar inverter that stores energy, allowing her to power low-wattage appliances during cloudy weather or at night. Additionally, Reva has turned an old solar cooker into a food dehydrator. She uses this device to preserve extra fruits, roast grains and nuts, and dry turmeric grown at home. This creative use of solar energy helps her stay committed to sustainability.
Reva Jhingan Malik’s experience shows that personal choices can make a big difference in living sustainably. By using solar energy to cook her meals, she proves that it’s both practical and effective to reduce our environmental impact.
