Q1.
How is food cooked in your house?
Answer
Write about your own kitchen. Say what you cook on, what fuel it uses, and where that fuel comes from.
Sample answer: “In my house food is cooked on a gas stove. The stove is joined by a rubber pipe to an LPG cylinder that we buy from the gas agency. When my mother turns the knob, the gas comes out and she lights it with a lighter. The blue flame heats the pan and the food cooks. On some days, when we make a lot of food for a function, my grandmother cooks on a chulha in the courtyard using firewood.”
| Way of cooking | Fuel used | Good and not so good |
|---|---|---|
| Gas stove | LPG cooking gas from a cylinder | Quick and clean; but it is a fuel that must be bought and it will not last for ever |
| Chulha | Firewood, dry cow-dung cakes | Cheap and easily found in a village; but it gives smoke that stings the eyes and harms the lungs |
| Angeethi / sigri | Coal | Stays hot a long time; but it makes a lot of smoke and harmful gases |
| Induction plate, electric kettle | Electricity | No smoke in the kitchen; but most electricity is still made by burning coal somewhere else |
| Solar cooker | Sunlight — free | No fuel, no smoke, no cost; but it works only on a sunny day and cooks slowly |
What to notice: Every one of these is a way of getting heat. The pan does not care where the heat came from. What changes is the fuel — and each fuel has its own cost, and its own effect on the air we breathe.