The name Jodana comes from the Hindi word meaning ‘to join’. It references not just the modular nature of the cooker, but also its user base, the lower-mid-income residents of Mumbai who gather from all over the country to make a living in India’s ‘City of Dreams’. The Jodana represents the literal melting pot that is Mumbai, and offers a unique way to combine cooktops as well as cultures and cooking techniques.
The modular cooktop features the induction cooker itself, as well as a control panel that attaches magnetically, quite similar to how the ROLI Blocks attach to one another to create an electronic musical interface. There are two cooktop styles to choose from, a flat-panel one that serves the role of a traditional induction cooker, as well as a curved surface that’s designed to work with the Kadhai, or the Indian equivalent of a wok. The kadhai plays an integral role in Indian cooking, and is used for all sorts of stir-fries, stews, curries, as well as for frying.
Designers: Yash Saboo, Niklas Muhs, Luisa Ebeling and Indalecio Gaytan (Umeå Institute of Design) in collaboration with Electrolux
The Jodana can be built to fit different types of countertops, judging by the sizes of kitchens in households. A single control panel can be used to adjust temperatures on multiple cooktops, offering efficiency and versatility in a smaller footprint. Each cooking surface comes with lights around its rim that indicate the temperature of the cooktop and whether it’s active or not. The lights also work with a countdown timer feature built into the Jodana, allowing you to automatically switch it off after a specific time.
The Jodana’s slim and compact design make it a boon for smaller households. It runs entirely on electricity, eliminating the need for a gas connection or a place to store a large bulky gas cylinder, and you can easily travel with the cooktop or move it around from room to room, facilitating the nomadic lifestyle of Mumbai’s lower-middle class.
The Jodana was created by the students of the Umeå Institute of Design in collaboration with Electrolux.
