A Sigri is a stove

Stove

A stove is an enclosed heated space. The term is commonly taken to mean an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to provide heating, either to heat the space in which the stove is situated or to heat the stove itself, and items placed on it...

 used for cooking, especially in North India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The fuel used is usually coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

, dried cow dung

Cow dung

Cow dung is the waste product of bovine animal species. These species include domestic cattle , bison , yak and water buffalo. Cow dung is the undigested residue of plant matter which has passed through the animal's gut. The resultant faecal matter is rich in minerals...

 and wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

, and is therefore useful for those who cannot afford liquefied petroleum gas stoves. Sigris are also used during winters for warmth.

Creation

A traditional sigri is made from a steel bucket by first cutting a small hole in the side wall (used later when lighting the stove). Several iron rods are then pushed through the walls about 3 inches below the top across the walls and the interior is covered with approximately an inch of mud paste which acts as an insulator.

Lighting

Lighting a sigri is a herculean task. First of all coal, cow dung, and wood pieces are loaded from the top. A piece of cow dung soaked in kerosene is then lit and inserted through the hole in the side below the iron rods. The sigri is then left in the open air until it stops smoking - once up to temperature, it produces smokeless heat.

The use of sigris is nowadays confined to villages and small towns because of the enormous time and effort it takes to light it and the overall inconvenience. Sigris also initially produce heavy smoke, but can be a good option for cooking dishes which require an even supply of heat.