Practical and Application Skills: Food, Fabric and Home-Care Tasks
This domain asks you to actually do things - cook, stitch, mend, clean, store - and to explain why each step is done. Questions come as short procedures, stain removal, measuring, mending and waste handling.
Food tasks
Weigh with a standard cup or balance; wash, peel thinly, and cut uniformly for even cooking; knead to a smooth elastic dough; cook cereals and pulses till tender without overcooking; taste and adjust seasoning last; serve and store covered. A simple balanced meal: cereal, pulse, vegetable, curd and a fruit.
Fabric tasks
Take measurements with the tape snug but not tight, add seam allowance, tack before stitching, and press as you sew. Basic mends: running stitch for a seam, hemming for edges, back stitch for strength, darning for a hole in a sock, patching for a tear in cotton.
Stain removal
Treat while fresh. Tea or coffee - cold water, then lemon and salt, dry in the sun. Grease - blot, apply talcum or chalk, then soap or solvent. Ink - cold water with milk or lemon. Blood - cold water only; hot water sets it. Test on a hidden part, work from the wrong side, and rinse well.
Home care
Sweep before mopping; segregate waste into wet (green) and dry (blue) bins; keep drains covered; store grain in airtight containers with neem leaves or cloves; unplug appliances before cleaning; clean the stove and chimney regularly.
Worked example
A fresh tea stain on a white cotton shirt. Scrape off any solids, rinse at once in cold water, apply lemon juice with a little salt, keep briefly in the sun, then wash with soap and dry. Reasoning: cold water prevents setting, the mild acid and salt lift the tannin, and sunlight bleaches the residue - but the sun step is only for white cotton, never for silk or coloured fabric.
Traps
Hot water sets blood, egg and milk stains; rubbing spreads a stain; never use chlorine bleach on wool or silk; never taste food to judge whether it has spoiled.