Cooking an Indian meal from scratch isn’t easy, especially because of the ratio of the various different kind of spices determine the outcome. The number of methods too, for a single dish vary: with family recipes, and with the region. India being very diverse and having different cuisines, it has been impossible to make a one-size-fits-all cooking machine. While you can have a specific one like a puttu maker or a roti maker, none hat can make both and then some. There is no machine that can actually cook a complete Indian meal from scratch.
Frying an onion until translucent, then reducing the flame to add the next spice, make sure its cooked before adding the third ingredient - Indian dishes are complex and follow layered instructions. Would it be possible for a machine to follow instructions like this to the T?
An Indian may have found one: Bengaluru based startup Euphotic Labs have designed a Robot called ‘NOSH’ for just this purpose.. Yatin Varachhia, a Gujarat based IISc graduate came up with the machine. The entire unit is based on Artificial Intelligence and took around 3 years and 6 prototypes to zero in on the current model.
“Initially, the prototype was as huge as a satellite. Now, it has reduced to that of a regular microwave oven”, Yatin shares on the journey of NOSH with News18. His struggle to access well-cooked food is what made him look into finding a solution in the form of this robot.
“I moved to Bengaluru in 2008 to study in IISc. My struggle with good food began then. Later, when I started working in various multinational companies and even after I got married, the struggle continued. My wife and I both worked, and we craved good home-cooked food which wouldn’t be possible always given our hectic schedule. Ordering out or other options wasn’t a sustainable lifestyle. That’s when I felt the urge to find a proper solution.”
After discussing the subject with about 100 people, he finally collaborated with four friends: Pranav Raval, Amit Gupta and Sudeep. Yatin explains the components of NOSH to News18: There are different compartments for spices, oil and water. There are also separate trays for main ingredients for meat, rice or vegetables. Fill different ingredients in the designated slots and choose the dish with a click. The time required for cooking is the same as it takes if one does it manually because the process is the same and the robot follows it to T. But the hard work is done without human interference ” says Yatin.
One can cook a simple Upma, to a complicated Biryani or Fish curry or even a Dal Makhani in a single device. It is designed to cook one-pot meals.
The best part about the food cooked by NOSH is that it doesn’t taste like it is machine cooked one, says Amit, co-founder, Euphotic labs.
“The robot has 4 motions that are equal to the various stirring and frying methods we use in Indian food. We were lucky to receive financial support from investors, family and the government of India. We already have around 200 orders and enquiries are pouring in from different corners of the world” says a proud Amit.
The NOSH is currently priced at Rs 50,000 and pre-order pricing is Rs 40,000.
NOSH is not the first robotic kitchen set up, but it is the first one custom-made for India which has proven effective.
Earlier, a robot from UK called would not only cook meals, but also clean up the kitchen later on.
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