There are cookers and there's Hawkins. Review on Hawkins Normal Pressure Cooker

This reviewer only wants those female members with an interest in cooking to read further:

I am not a professional cook...nor have I cooked food as much as most of you have.

My first experience with cooking by myself was when I was living in the United States as a student and had to share this apartment with another guy.

That was the first time I made tea...I had not even fried an egg until I was 18! But for the next 4-5 years, I had a choice, cook and eat or starve and die!

So I called up my mom dear in India...and was like mom, I miss your ''daal'' and that ''chawal'' the most.

So my mom had my brother email me the ''recipie'' on how to make daal and rice.

Use Toor daal my brother wrote to me. And don't use Thailand rice...use Basmati..but not the really long ones.

I tried to cook daal the first time. It took me 65 minutes. I was so bored and impatient that I had to eat it half cooked!

But I did not use a pressure cooker you see...I was like big deal, pateli and a pressure cooker are the same. Guess not!

So I scavanged for a pressure cooker in the local mall...Did not find any. Mom sent me a Hawkins Pressure Cooker from India.

The 2 liter version.

One cup daal and 4 cups water.

Put some haldi and salt. Shut the lid and open after 3 ''seetis'' whistle. It took just 8 minutes!

For the next couple of years, Hawkins was my best bet for everything. Be it simple daal or chawal or ''chicken, mutton curry''

The only problem was the lid. It's not 100% air proof.

Some flaws:

Small amounts of steam leaks from the sides...like a winter draft that creeps within from the space under the doors.

It's messy. The daal can spill in very small amounts while pressure is building inside and make a mess of the cooker as well as the stove.

It's a pain to wash this pressure cooker...or for that matter any other pressure cooker.

The rubber seal wears of too quickly and the whistle breaks sooner than you'd expect.

Also the steel buffing...the silver coating comes off within 2-3 rinse and scrub.

I think Hawkins tried to fix all these problems with it's Futura range. Unfortunately the Futura series never went well with customers. Futura does'nt have a whistel...but it's sleek and attractive. Mom says Futura is ''not practical'' and not available in many sizes.

Rajesh pressure cooker or marlex she said ain't safe.

Only Hawkins has the best safety feature among all the pressure cooker.

The steam pressure will not blow away the lid as you have to slide the lid inside and rotate it clockwise...and then lock it...otherwise there won't be any steam..and hence no cooking...

Hey, are you wondering if I ever made sweet dish in my cooker...Hmmm I tried some ''pudding'' and custard....then cool it and freeze it.

Go get a Hawkins...your life in the kitchen will never be the same again.