Farmers Movement Archive

Singhu border: Smart cooker can cook for thousands in a jiffy

NEW DELHI: Supplying community meals non-stop to thousands of visitors every day is a challenge for protesting farmers at the Singhu border. To make it happen seamlessly, they have adopted smart techniques for food preparation such as installing steam-cooking units. These cost-effective devices — reducing daily fuel expenditure to one-third — are also safe and time saving. Taranjit Singh of Gurudwara Tap Asthan Sant Baba Hazara Singh Ji at Gurdaspur district said the decision to bring a steam-cooking unit from Punjab was taken after an increase in the footfall at the protest site. “The unit with multiple containers can cook food for 6,000 people in one hour and 3,000 people in 25 minutes,” he said. The unit has three containers and can cook at least 50kg dal, 50kg vegetables and 50kg rice at a time, Singh added. Even tea is prepared in it. “The best part is that one person can handle it alone, easily.” Earlier they were using eight-10 commercial LPG cylinders every day, costing Rs 11,000- 12,000. “Now we are spending Rs 4,000-5,000,” Singh said. In this system, one-two quintal wood is used and after water starts boiling, steam is captured and supplied through pipes to cook all items, he pointed out. The units take limited space and are easy to maintain. “We have a bigger unit at the gurdwara,” said Singh. At the same pandal, devotees are using a fully automatic chapati-making machine to make thousands of rotis from two quintal flour every day. “The footfall is increasing daily and we can’t depend on conventional methods of cooking. To prepare a full meal in a limited time, we are using these devices that take less time to prepare food,” said Karanjit Singh, who has been engaged in preparing food for the last 24 days. A little away, similar methods have been adopted at another pandal. “Even after so many days, people are working devotedly to serve any number of visitors,” said a farmer. “The government should learn from us and hear our issues with an open heart,” he added while helping others.

The Times of India

2020-12-24

Delhi