Entrepreneur Sanandan Sudhir has built the On2Cook, a cooking device that combines the wonders of a microwave and cooking stove to help make the process faster. His innovation has now been valued at Rs 100 crore

“As I had long working days, I thought cooking in a microwave oven would save me time and space. I didn’t want to set up an entire kitchen. I tried using the oven to cook for around six months, but it was very time-consuming,” tells Sanandan to The Better India.

Realising that this was not sustainable in the long run, the designer was forced to set up a small kitchen. However, he wasn’t happy with the quality of the food when he used the stove.

“I felt that the quality of the food deteriorated when cooked on the stove. The vegetables got overcooked, and moreover, there was a need to add water to cook them. So they lost volume too. But a microwave oven retained the colour, texture, volume, and most importantly, the nutrients of vegetables,” says the designer.

He says, “On2Cook works on the combination-cooking technology with induction or flame acting on the food from outside and microwaves from inside. The product can save 70 per cent time and 50 per cent energy. The cooked food retains water-soluble nutrients while preserving colour, texture and consistency. After being granted patents across India, US and UK, our invention stands to create a new product category in the kitchen space.”

Since the early 2000s, Sanandan knew that he wanted to develop a product that would combine the cooking technology of microwaves with induction or flame.