My experience with a solar cooker

Way back in 1993, I was servicing government accounts for my employer, Indian Express Newspapers, in Bhopal, India. Urja Vikas Nigam, an organization dedicated to promoting solar energy was one of my clients. UVN made and sold suitcase box-sized solar cookers that came with four blackened cooking containers. At that time going “green” or adopting eco-friendly practices was nowhere the talk of the day.

I remember being intrigued by this cooking devise, and the ability to cook without depending on modern amenities. I especially thought of it as a great concept for the rural poor, as that would alleviate the need to procure other types of fuel. If not eliminate, at least minimize.

Well, I finally bought the box with an attached mirrored lid and lugged it up four flights of stairs onto our apartment roof top. First it just lay around forlornly. However then I hit upon the idea, of prepping the dish of the day on the regular, ‘modern’ stove and then putting it in the round, black containers inside the solar box. I would position the mirror and leave for the day. The boiling Indian summers were a boon to solar cooking. The good thing about solar cookers is that after it is done cooking; it stays very hot, but does not burn. However if you have a rainy, or cloudy day then your lunch would remain uncooked.

I’d come home to lunch, pick my tray and bring down the steaming containers of potato and pea stew, lentils and rice. Once I impressed my father-in-law by disappearing to the rooftop and reappearing within minutes with steamy, hot food. I have made cakes, rice dessert, roasted peanuts, and speeded up pickling in the solar cooker. The only flop I experienced was a cake that did not rise, because we opened the solar cooker to check how it was doing. In a solar cooker you leave it till done, or overdone!
Just prep, pack and forget it. It was kind of fun.

Like a traditional oven, but without a worry!!

I always thought of it as a cool concept, but I seemed to be the only one!

Is that a spoon full of poison or nourishment?

First food for me was just food- a matter of individual taste. Yes, it supplied the five major nutrients important for us to maintain our bodies: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins. And calories. Too much food equaled to excess calories which just ended as unwanted body fat.

My youngest sister visit to me in 2000 and her attitude to food started me on a chain of self-discovery. Her emphasis on greens, spinach and avoiding yogurt, and climbing six flights of stairs to maintain her fitness had my curiosity stirred. After following suit and dropping weight effortlessly, my interest in food was piqued and increasingly my time was spent on reading everything about food, without excluding any schools of thought.

How to make food a balm for the body or spirit?

It’s a vicious fight between taste and self-discipline. One road leads to ill health, lower self-esteem and everything downwards. The other road requires exercising care and control, making health-giving choices. This eventually leads to a better mind-body complex and all things good and uplifting.

The funny thing is food can destroy you and lead you closer to the bottom-end. Have you ever gorged on fries and battered chicken and then felt like throwing it all up as your body feels bloated, drained and stuffed? Then you get angry with yourself for overeating once again, look at your image in the mirror and grimace and sink into another cycle of depression and escapism by eating a packet of chips on the couch watching television so that your mind can get away from how you feel? And then walk around with clogged arteries two years later?

I have read somewhere that one of the first baby steps to personal growth and spiritual journey starts with your diet.

I like Elfie Hinterkopf’s , Ph.D. definition of spirituality: a subtle, bodily feeling with vague meanings that brings new, clearer meanings involving a transcendent growth process. She further explains it as “Yes, if I define spirituality as a special kind of experience in which one reaches out to more parts of oneself, others, and life.”

And this paradigm is very much in keeping with what Edgar Cayce discovered through his hypnotic voyages: “For you grow to heaven, you don’t go to heaven. It is within thine own conscience that ye grow there”

Consciously or unconsciously it starts as a journey of self-awareness, exploration, changes. You may have an existing issue that you no longer wish to prolong. It may be excessive weight, an allergy or a serious heart condition. Somewhere deep inside, you decide to take control, instead of letting things slide. You gather knowledge, meet some experts and make changes to your diet, grocery shopping habits, cooking style, and join an exercise regimen. You make progress, and then fall two steps back. Sometimes you make amazing discoveries: you stuck with your two-week exercise goal despite your misgivings and lack of determination, the removal of dairy and gluten stopped the bloating feeling and renewed the energy drive. You feel good and accomplished. Your skin looks better. Nothing could be better, the sun is shining and the world looks good!

It’s a journey of self-discovery! You never imagined that you could love the feeling after a brisk walk and feel a renewed zest to tackle new tasks. Or that you loved making salads, and have become a connoisseur of sorts as you hunt for the freshest ingredients and discover a lip-smacking, healthy dressing after several trials and errors.

Here’s a tip I picked among my readings and used with good results. Edgar Cayce, the sleeping prophet, said freshly juiced celery, lettuce and carrots builds up the immune system. Constantly on the look out for something to improve my twins immunity a decade ago, I gave this recipe a shot. What I did notice was that my kids were not picking up the perennial seasonal viral every school opening season in September. Many times I brushed it away as coincidence. But after reading extensive accounts of people recovering from debilitating and potentially fatal illnesses from juicing, I have finally understood its power. And the reason is very simple – fresh juice carries all necessary nutrients (discovered and undiscovered) plus living chi or prana required by a cell in an instantly assessable form to heal and rejuvenate.

Food is not merely calories and five nutrient groups. Food hides within its folds a world within a world. And maybe your first baby step towards a better you..