Being a surgeon, most of his time is spent at his clinic, but once he's back home, he experiments with cooking. Dev has invested in a solar cooker, which he keeps on the terrace. ``In the morning, when I leave, I keep the food to be cooked in the solar cooker, and by the time I come back, it's cooked,'' he says with satisfaction.

However, Dev does not use the solar mechanism only for cooking his normal, everyday meals. He also tries some exotic recipes on it. ``I can make pizzas, cakes, fudge and even barfi in the solar cooker,'' says Dev with pride , showing the scrap-book where he has carefully compiled recipes from various sources. ``Both my daughter-in-law and I collect cookbooks, but I am the one who tries out the recipes,'' he adds.

Since he is a doctor, Dev is naturally concerned with nutrition. He selects and experiments with recipes which have high-protein ingredients. He has a small balcony attached to his kitchen in which he grows coriander and fenugreek. There is always a stock of sprouted lentils in his refrigerator, to add a touch of nutrition to any dish. He also advocates drinking water with lemon juice in it, ``besides providing vitamin C, it has a cleansing effect and prevents tooth decay,'' he says.