7 Reasons Indian Kitchens Are Replacing the Microwave (and OTG) With One Appliance
7 Reasons Indian Kitchens Are Replacing the Microwave (and OTG) With One Appliance
The counter is crowded, the pakodas are guilty, and the OTG is still preheating. Thousands of families found a simpler answer.
Crispy, tandoor-style food — with a fraction of the oil
The first thing families notice isn't the specs. It's Friday-night pakodas that crunch without the regret. 360° hot-air circulation crisps the way a tandoor does — with a spoonful of oil instead of a kadhai full. Same taste your family expects; a fraction of the oil they don't see. Every SOLARA recipe is tried and tested in our own kitchen, showing how Indian delicacies can be made oil-free and healthier.
"एयर फ्रायर आपकी हेल्थ के लिए अब तक का बेस्ट इन्वेस्टमेंट हो सकता है… बाद में पछताने और दवाइयों पे ख़र्च करने से अच्छा है, स्मार्ट किचन अप्लायंसेज़ में इन्वेस्ट करें।"
"An air fryer might be the best investment you've made for your health… better than regretting later and spending on medicines."
— CHEF JEET · CHEF & CREATOR, 1M+ FOLLOWERS · FROM HIS SOLARA AIR FRYER OVEN VIDEOOne appliance. Three counters' worth of jobs.
Air fry, bake, roast, toast, grill, reheat — 12 preset modes cover the microwave's reheating, the OTG's baking and the air fryer's crisping, in one body. In kitchens where counter space is the scarcest ingredient, this is the quiet killer feature.
| MICROWAVE | OTG | AIR FRYER OVEN | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crisps & air-fries | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Bakes & roasts | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rotisserie chicken | ✗ | rare | ✓ included |
| Preheat time | — | 15–20 min | minutes |
| Oil needed | — | brush + hope | a spoonful |
Big enough for everyone — not four kebabs at a time
Basket air fryers make you cook in batches while half the family waits. The 12-litre cavity with rotisserie takes a whole chicken on the spit, a full tray of kebabs, or a birthday cake — one shot, everyone eats together.
About the "air fryers cause cancer" rumour — here's what the lab found
The fear is real, and it deserves a straight answer, not a marketing dodge. The rumour traces to two things: old-generation non-stick coatings (the "forever chemicals" in the headlines), and acrylamide — a compound that forms whenever starchy food meets high heat, in any cooking method, including a kadhai of hot oil. Air frying doesn't add either risk; the coating question depends entirely on how the appliance is built.
So we did what no other air fryer brand in India has done: sent ours to an independent laboratory. Intertek India tested it (Jan 2026):
SOLARA is the only air fryer in India certified 100% PFAS-free by an independent lab. Ask any brand for their lab report — we publish ours.
No preheat marathon. No electricity guilt.
An OTG spends a quarter of an hour just warming up before it cooks anything. The Air Fryer Oven reaches temperature in minutes, cooks faster with circulated air, and switches off on its digital timer — less power used per meal, week after week.
Cleans in minutes, not Sunday afternoons
Racks, rotisserie parts and tray come out; everything that touches food washes easily. No scrubbing a kadhai after every "healthy experiment." Skewers, rotisserie rod and rack are all in the box.
Thousands of Indian families already switched
Rated ★4.75 across 1,414 verified reviews on solara.in. SOLARA products sit in kitchens across India — and in corporate gifting programs at 200+ companies including Microsoft, Goldman Sachs and Amazon. The Air Fryer Oven is the bestseller of the range, and this week it's at ₹7,599 instead of ₹12,999.
SOLARA Large Digital Air Fryer Oven (12L)
Popular combo: + Oil Sprayer + 6 Silicone Baskets — ₹7,999 ₹13,899