Women who belong to the age group of 18 years and above are eligible to participate in this contest. The contest is an annual property that started in 2009 as part of a series of sub-activities initiated towards educating the consumer on the importance of a healthy lifestyle and how LG products help in developing the same. It is a three-stage cooking contest organised nationally over a period of five months. This year, the contest will take place in around 100 cities, commencing from June 9 and will conclude in October.

The first round is going to be held in around 100 cities seeking huge participation. The winners of the first round will be taken to the second round at the 12 regional centres and finally, the 24 winners from 12 regions will compete against each other in the grand finale in October 2012, where the next Mallika-E-Kitchen Cooking Queen 2012 will be crowned.

Commenting on the contest, Dr. Y.V. Verma, Director, Home Appliances, LG Electronics India said: "Mallika-E-Kitchen, in the format of a contest, was created by LG Electronics India to generate awareness about the benefits of microwave cooking. Till late, MWO was being used in India for re-heating purpose only. Through this contest, we have managed to create awareness about the benefits of MWO cooking. The campaign has received amazing responses in the last three seasons as, till date, more than 10,000 women have participated in the same (2,700 in 2009, 3,000 in 2010 and 4,700 in 2011)."

He further added: "With an endeavour to reach out to more cities and towns through the campaign this year, we are giving three free microwave cookery classes pan India. Mallika-E-Kitchen Cooking Contest is an innovative concept to discover the best cooking talent with contests which run countrywide."