Not LPG, but sunlight is helping restaurant in Odisha cook and serve piping hot biryani even after sun goes down

While restaurants are struggling with rising LPG prices, one eatery in Odisha is preparing biryani in a more affordable, eco-friendly way. According to a Better India report, Golden Brew Cafe in Bhubaneshwar, cooks pulao, biryani and more such delicacies, using a 100% solar-powered system that works even after sunset and on rainy days. The kitchen runs on sunlight.

How Does The Soler Cooker Work?

Made of a solar coil and an induction cooking system, the system remains active throughout the season. During the day, solar panels power the kitchen. Extra energy is stored which enables the cafe to serve biryani and food piping hot even after the sun sets.

Developed by Indian scientists Dr Sudhanshu Sekhar Sahu, Dr Manoj Nayak and Dr Santosh Swain, the system currently operates on a 3-kilo watt solar setup. This innovation lowers fuel expenses, minimizes harmful emissions, and enables households to cook without relying on LPG cylinders.

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“I, along with two other innovators, Dr. Manoj Nayak, who is currently a professor at NIT New Delhi, and Santosh Swain, an electrician from Dhenkanal, together we three designed this cooking system. The old coil heating system has already been banned because it consumes more power and lacks efficiency. So, we reintroduced it and redesigned it to run on DC, which means we get DC power by installing solar panels,” the scientist Sahu told OdishaTV.

Prof Sahu explained that the team set out to develop a heating technology powered directly by DC (direct current) electricity, eliminating the need for battery storage. After extensive planning and research, they successfully created the system and applied for a patent in 2021, which was officially granted in 2024. During the same year, they also engineered a method to operate induction-based cooking appliances using DC power, offering an alternative to the conventional AC-powered induction systems widely used today.